Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium
by TheWindAlchemist
Summary: Hinata was an ordinary, unnoticeable girl who wanted to be anything but what she was. On her first step to becoming bigger and greater, she stumbles upon a strange shop run by a group of shady characters. Are they the gateway to her new life? AU. Hinata x ?
1. Akatsuki

AU, in that the Akatsuki aren't criminals and ninja-ing isn't all that prominent, but still exists.

* * *

_Do you struggle with gift-giving? Looking for a new way to express yourself? Searching for new collections to start? Worry no more, at Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium, where our gift is giving! Presents, artwork, flowers, and much, much more are at your disposal. Come visit us anytime!_

* * *

It was a warm summer day, and Hinata Hyuga was determined to change her ways. Gone were the days where she would stutter and stare at the ground. No longer would she turn red at the sight of Naruto Uzumaki – nay, any boy to ever cross her path! The summer season was just beginning and just as the sun rose to introduce a new day, she rose up to grow into a new version of herself.

Hinata stood in front of her full-body mirror, her hands balled up into fists in anticipation for the day. She stared at her reflection, thinking to herself, _This summer, I'm going to put myself out there! I'm going to find love! Acceptance! No more small, timid Hinata!_

She took a deep breath and sighed her newfound mantra, "New day, new you!"

Today's adventure – ask Naruto on a date!

Hinata took a bold step out onto her front porch and breathed in the new summer air. A smile on her face, she marched down the street in order to look for her long-time crush, Naruto. "New day, new you, new day, new you…" she muttered to herself over and over again, her eyes constantly scanning the crowd for the spiky-haired blond.

However, after about an hour of searching and asking around for his location, she found that he was out on a mission and wouldn't be back for a few days. Spirits slightly diminished, she sighed and sat on a bench outside of a small shop. _So much for a new me…_ she berated herself, not noticing the orange-masked fellow watering the plants that surrounded the entire front face of the store.

In fact, the masked man failed to notice Hinata as well, and when he watered the hanging plant above her head, he spilled some water on her as well.

Well… more like spilled the remaining water in the can, which was a lot.

Hinata yelped at the sudden rush of water over her head and the man screamed and fell backwards on his butt. Hinata stood up quickly, but hit her head on the hanging plant above her and shook dirt all over herself. Covered in leftover muddy water, she looked around for the cause of this travesty. It was then that she saw the orange-masked man, who also slightly wet from his clumsiness with the watering can and on the ground, rubbing his sore bottom.

"Owie… Golly, that hurt…" he muttered to himself, getting up and dusting himself off as best as he could. He saw Hinata and exploded with worry and apologies, his arms spread out and flailing because he didn't know how to save her soaking outfit. Hinata was alarmed to say the least, but still tried to calm him down. "I-It's okay, uh…" she glanced down at his nametag and read it out loud, "…Tobi."

Tobi stopped and looked at her. "A-Are you okay!? Gosh, I'm really really sorry! I'm still pretty new at this and I was just watering the plants and didn't pay attention and gosh, Sasori an Deidara are going to be so, so mad at me I just know it…" Tobi spoke fast and rambled a bunch of apologies in between sentences. Hinata couldn't even process what he was saying most of the time.

But thank goodness, she didn't have to, because she heard from inside the store another man's voice, one that was significantly calmer than Tobi's and definitely more collected.

"What's all the commotion, Tobi?" A young man with disheveled and short red hair poked his head out the front door of the shop. He glanced at Hinata, assessing her soaked-ness, and then at Tobi, who was holding the now empty watering can. He understood the situation immediately, stepping outside to introduce himself.

"Oh, gosh, Tobi, look what you've done…" he sighed. He looked to Hinata and smiled a little, extending his hand to her. "Hello, I'm Sasori. I'm sorry about what Tobi seems to have done to you…" Hinata took his hand and smiled. "It's… It's fine, really," she said softly. She stared in wonder at the two of them, realizing how odd a pair they seemed to be. They were totally different from each other in so many ways already, and she had known both of them collectively for ten minutes. What were they doing running a… a flower shop?

Sasori stepped away from them for a second, saying, "Let me grab you a towel. Oh, better yet, why don't you just come inside…" he held the door open for both Hinata and Tobi to step in, and Hinata couldn't believe her eyes. The ceiling was significantly higher than she thought possible for the building, and there were two floors of shelves of odd things, knick-knacks and tchotchkes, works of art from sculptures to paintings, toys and instruments and of course, more flowers to add to what she saw outside.

She didn't mean to stare, but everything in the store was so colorful and vibrant. She caught Sasori staring at her reaction and he smiled when they made eye contact. "Welcome to Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium," he said, waving a grandiose arm at the larger-than-life store. Hinata kept looking around the shop over and over again, keeping her spot at the door while Sasori weaved between the different small kiosks of little things to find a towel for her.

From the outside, the store seemed like such a small, ordinary place. But once she was inside, it was a whole new world. The cash registers were in a circle in the middle of the store, and behind them were these grand staircases, their edges full of tables carrying all this exotic stuff. On the second floor she saw many more weird and foreign objects. She was so drawn into this magical world of – stuff, for lack of a better word – that she forgot that the only reason she was there was because someone spilled plant water all over her. Seeing all of this stuff almost made her glad that such an event occurred.

Sasori came back with a towel and handed it to her. "I'm so terribly sorry about Tobi here. Is there anything we can help you with today?" he said to her, his face somewhat neutral yet still showing a bit of concern. Hinata stared at him in wonder for a few moments, creating an awkward silence between the three of them.

"Um… If you'd like, you can stay and walk around the store if you like," he said finally, breaking the silence and stepping towards the registers. Hinata nodded, embarrassed for staring. Tobi scratched the back of his head and apologized to her one more time before going back to watering the plants.

At first, Hinata didn't know what to do with herself. She looked at the towel and realized that she was still soaking wet. She didn't know how much help one towel would be for drying off her entire person, so she decided to just wrap the towel around herself and walk around the store. She looked at all the books and how they were very uniquely bound. It looked as if there were only one copy of these books, and the one copy was the one in the store. She was surprised there weren't a lot of people here trying to get their hands on them.

She noticed that there was an empty spot at the end of the bookshelf, which was suddenly filled with a book, sliding in from the other side. After recovering from the surprise, she took the book out and read the cover. _The Bible of Jashin._

Jashin? Who was Jashin? Hinata leaned over and stared into the surprising darkness of the area through the bookshelf. A magenta-colored eye stared back at her, and she almost screamed, jumping back in surprise. The bookshelf opened like a door, and a shirtless man with slicked back silver hair appeared before her.

"Would you like to hear about my lord and savior Jashin?" he asked her, his attention on the book in her hand. Hinata was speechless and confused, unable to respond until another man walked up to them.

This man was wearing a mask over his mouth and a sort of hood over his head. His eyes were truly something else, green pupils with red instead of whites for the rest of his eye. He had dark skin and a very well-fitted suit that gave him the appearance of an intimidating business man.

"Don't scare the girl, Hidan. Why aren't you wearing a shirt? _Again?_" the dauntingly tall man demanded of the shirtless one. "What? It's not like it's air conditioned behind the bookshelves. And it's not like you're about to spend your precious dollars on such a necessary luxury, _especially_ during the hottest summer ever!" the silver-haired man raised his arms up in frustration, his voice rising. "And besides, I only came out here because I just finished writing the Bible, and _she_ picked it up! Of course I'd come talk to her!" Hinata squeaked in surprise when the man – Hidan – turned his attention to her once again.

"What do you know about Jashin? If you want, we can perform a ritual together right now!" Suddenly, Hidan's skin turned black and white, making him look like a skeleton. Hinata was shaking in her boots, even more so when Hidan held up a giant pointy spike between them. She couldn't even find a voice to scream. _WHO – !? WHAT – !?_ she thought frantically, frozen in place as Hidan took a step towards her.

The businessman sighed and grabbed the spike, breaking it in half. Hidan returned to his normal skin color, looking annoyed. "You didn't have to break it, Kakuzu!" Hidan yelled. Businessman Kakuzu sighed, gesturing to Hinata. "She's terrified! Look at her, she's shaking like a leaf! Why would it even be remotely logical for you to begin a ritual when she is so clearly not interested!?" As the two bickered, Hinata saw Sasori approaching them, a tired look on his face.

"Hidan, Kakuzu – what are you two doing? What's Hidan doing out here?" Sasori saw Hinata, frozen with fear, and sighed. Kakuzu and Hidan had stopped arguing long enough to yell excuses at Sasori, who frankly had had enough of it.

"Hidan was scaring the ever living shit out of this girl –"

"Kakuzu destroyed my fucking spike!"

"He thought it was a good idea to start one of his fucking rituals right here in the store, in front of our first customer in ages!"

"Our beloved _first customer in ages_ is interested in worshipping my LORD and SAVIOR, JASHIN – "

Hinata could see Sasori almost twitch in agitation. But he was remarkably good at keeping a straight face, though one could really tell that he was reaching his limit. He held up a hand, silencing the two. "Look, I _really_ wish I gave a shit about all of this, but I can't have you guys scaring people out here. Hidan, are you done organizing the books in the back? And Kakuzu, are you here to assess the cash registers?" Hinata was amazed at Sasori's professionalism.

Kakuzu cleared his throat and said "Yes. I need to go through all the sales within the past few years. Leader has been really bad at keeping the store's finances in order while I was on vacation." Sasori nodded, then looked expectantly at Hidan, who just grumbled and retreated behind the bookshelf. "It's like you guys got me in a fuckin' _cage_ back here…" Kakuzu had made his way to the cash registers, leaving Hinata and Sasori alone.

"Hinata, I'm so terribly sorry about all this," he said as he gently took the Bible of Jashin from Hinata and replaced it on the shelf. "Do you have any questions? I'd understand if you felt like leaving after meeting… them." Sasori smiled at her and she couldn't help but relax a bit more. For the first time in a while she was able to move normally again, no longer pinned down by fear. "It's fine… I'm just curious…" she paused to look around the store again. "What is this store, exactly?"

Sasori cleared his throat and said in an almost rehearsed tone, "Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium! Presents, artwork, flowers, and much, much more!" They stood there in silence for a minute. Hinata didn't mention how vague that description was compared to what she saw in the store already. "What… What kind of presents do you sell? Do you own the place? I know you mentioned a leader, but why isn't he here in the store?" She took a step forward, wandering aimlessly around the store. Upon closer inspection she saw that the store was divided, organized in a way that made sense to _somebody,_ just not her.

In fact, upon even closer inspection, the store wasn't organized at all. Hinata dared to ask, "Sasori… How is a customer supposed to find their way around here?" Sasori shrugged and nervously scratched the back of his head. "I, uh… I guess we never really thought about that kind of stuff."

Hinata nodded. "Oh." _How the hell are they still in business!?_

"_**Yes, which is why we need YOU, Hinata Hyuga!"**_

A voice boomed from above them. From where they stood in the center of the store, Hinata saw a figure jump from some place in the ceiling and landed with a loud thud

on the counter of the registers. He stood tall and proud, his arms crossed over his chest. His incredibly intimidating presence was about ten times that of Kakuzu's. He had wild orange-auburn hair that stuck out a bit like Naruto's, and about a million piercings on his face alone. His eyes were as wild as his hair, with the strangest rings around his pupils. They were almost hypnotizing as he looked her straight in the eye. He was a powerful presence to behold, yet when Hinata spared a glance at Sasori, he looked perfectly calm.

"Ah, Leader, hello!" Sasori waved and saluted, smiling a little.

"Hinata Hyuga," the leader said again in his booming voice, not paying much mind to Sasori's greeting. Hinata stood up straight and tall, paying full attention. "You are Akatsuki's first customer in ages. It was fate that you were brought here, because we are in desperate need for a help that only _you_ can provide!" he pointed at her dramatically, waiting for her response.

"H… How can I… help…?" Hinata asked timidly, mentally berating herself for being shy yet again.

* * *

_New day… new you…_

* * *

Hello, TWA is back! I was looking over my old fics (none of which I really plan to edit or continue at this point ((Except for Rich Girl, which was updated fairly recently)) and I decided to try this whole fanfic thing again.

I have given up on reading Naruto a long while ago, so my understanding is still within when the Akatsuki were still active in the story. This makes perfect sense to me because I love the Akatsuki with my entire being, and my love was recently sparked because I began watching the Rock Lee spinoff series. It's so cute and funny, and it's the only contact with Naruto I've made.

So yeah, here I am. I don't really expect this fic to get a lot of attention because I've been so out of commission for a long time, but I hope you liked this idea nonetheless! I might make this story something for my own original stories as well, eventually, so.

Yeah. See you in the next chapter!


	2. Itachi

In Hinata's household – or in her life, rather – she wasn't anybody really significant. Sure, she was considered the heir to her father's throne of the family, but she felt pretty sure that he would disinherit her someday and let her probably more-deserving younger sister, Hanabi, take it. Around the house, the other Hyugas recognized her and bowed to her like she was royalty, but she never felt like she fit the part. She knew it was only because of who her father was more than anything.

As a ninja, she lacked the natural talent her sister had, so her father was always comparing them to each other. It always seemed that her shortcomings outweighed her talents, and it was exhausting.

Hinata was more noticeable in her social life, but she always found something was lacking. That wasn't to say that her teammates, Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka, weren't treating her right – because they were two of the best friends she could ask for – it was everyone outside of that circle that often blurred her otherwise content friendships. She was friends with everyone in her year, sure, but nothing deep. Everyone knew who she was, that was for sure. But everyone knew her as a shy person, a quiet person, an average ninja and not someone who particularly stood out in any way other than her family lineage.

Even her lifetime crush, Naruto Uzumaki, who was nice to her in every way, didn't view her as anything more than a friend. Not even a close friend, either. More like one of those peripheral friends, the kind you're okay with not seeing for a long, long time and don't go out of your way to see or hear from. The kind that passively pass by your amazing and vibrant life. Liking him was very exhausting, Hinata thought, but crushes are a disgusting disease that takes a while to overcome, even if you're concentrated on diminishing those feelings. It didn't really help that she was also known for having a crush on Naruto, which was a very counter-productive fact since Naruto managed to evade such information all their lives.

Maybe he was just an idiot. Hinata was in love with an idiot.

This wasn't to say her life was completely pathetic. She was definitely grateful for her position in life nonetheless, and she was especially grateful for having lived up to this point in her life.

Even though it was scary at first, Hinata decided to change the parts of herself that she could. She decided that at least trying to become a better version of herself was a realistic goal to reach.

She never could have predicted that this would be the immediate consequences of her efforts.

* * *

"H…How… can I… help…?"

Surprisingly, no one noticed her stuttering. It was almost as if it were expected, but not because it was a trait of her character, but rather… it was expected of the moment. Because, she thought, how the hell else was she supposed to react? She stumbles upon a strange traveling shop full of strange people, one of which lived _in the walls_, and the owner of said shop, with his shocking appearance and foreboding aura, asked her to… to what, exactly?

"Help us, Hinata. We never got the hang of customer service, even though that is precisely our goal. As you have so keenly observed, our fair business is in ruins – unorganized, structure-less, beautiful ruins – and you, our only customer, is our key to success!" The supposed leader and owner of this shop was very good at hand gesticulation, for his sweeping hand motions and powerful stances somehow made her want to help them. But, being the careful and rational person she was, thought about his proposal.

"So… you want me to help you guys… organize?" Hinata said once she thought about it. The leader nodded. "Will you?" he asked, crouching down to make more intense eye contact.

Hinata paused to process. What else was she going to do today? And after a look around the shop again, she realized she didn't really have many plans this summer, either. She figured that a summer job thing would do her good. "Will I get paid?" She asked, immediately regretting her demanding tone. The leader smirked at her and extended his hand. "Hell yeah. Do we have a deal?"

Hinata looked at Sasori, who shrugged and smiled. She caught Kakuzu staring at her from the registers, also anticipating her response. Smiling, Hinata looked the Leader in the eyes and took his hand firmly in hers.

"Yes!"

The leader grinned at her. "Good. Great!" He stepped down from the counter and stood in front of her properly. "My name is Pein, and I own this fine establishment." He held a proud thumb's up and then jumped back up somewhere, instantly disappearing from view. Hinata was surprised and stepped back from where she was, bumping into someone.

"Hinata… What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked her. She felt a hand on her shoulder spin her around, and before her was someone she hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Itachi… Uchiha," she said softly, looking into the dark eyes of her old friend.

Itachi, obviously part of the famous Uchiha clan, had disappeared many years ago, becoming a well-known case to everyone in Konoha. Hinata remembered her childhood days, when the clans of Konoha came together and all their children would gather in a room, with Itachi and the other young adults as babysitters. They were always so kind and fun to be around. She remembered when Itachi would lift her up and make her feel like she was flying for a few moments. She remembered how devastating it was for everyone to know he was gone.

To see him in front of her now was insane.

He had become so grown up, looking much older than he did from her childhood. Behind Itachi was a peculiar-looking man, colored blue and very similar to a fish. Were those gills? He spoke in a very deep and raspy voice, saying, "Itachi? Do you know this girl?"

Itachi nodded and smiled at Hinata. "She's a childhood friend. I babysat her and my brother when we were all younger," he said casually, as if he hadn't gone missing for the past 5 or more years.

Still in disbelief, Hinata said, "You're… You're back…" Sensing her need to talk, Itachi requested that he and Hinata be left alone. They walked to one of the seating areas behind the staircase. "Coffee?" He offered her, as there was a small coffee station embedded into the back of the stairs. Again, he offered it like he hadn't caused the grief of many of his own family members, including the one closest to him, Sasuke. Even so, Hinata agreed to some coffee.

"Where have you been? Here, Itachi?" Hinata asked immediately, still in disbelief over his presence in front of her. Itachi nodded. "I've been with the Akatsuki since I was your age, Hinata. I stumbled upon them probably like you did, and I really love what I've been doing with them since." He glanced to the side, noticing that Sasori and Tobi were listening from around the corner. "Why did you decide to leave?" Hinata asked him, absently turning her cup in its saucer. After a pause, Itachi answered, "There's a certain thing about Akatsuki that draws you to it."

This time, Hinata stayed quiet. "You didn't say good-bye. To anyone." She knew it wasn't anything personal, but she remembered Itachi's heartbroken mother, and how distanced from everything Sasuke became. Itachi closed his eyes and nodded. "The situation I was in… There was no time. It was a now-or-never kind of thing, y'know?" He sipped his coffee, seeing that Hinata wasn't satisfied. "But you never came back, not even to tell everyone where you were, that you were okay."

"Akatsuki travels a lot, so I never really got a chance to," Itachi explained. Hinata scoffed, her irritation visible. "Really, all this time and you just never got a break? You never had some time to yourself to just visit us and say, 'Hey, it's me, I'm okay and happy!'" She was leaning forward on the table, she realized, her breathing a bit erratic with her irritation. Itachi looked at her with surprise. He never realized how hurt she was by his absence, even though she never mentioned her own feelings.

There was a long silence between them and everyone in the store. Hinata leaned back on her chair and sipped her coffee. Itachi leaned forward, looking her straight in the eyes. "Hinata, I'm sorry for leaving." She looked down at her drink, now cooled down during their talk. "But you must understand – I didn't leave in order to hurt the people I love." She glanced up at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Itachi was like an older brother to her, and being mad at him wasn't the greatest feeling in the world. She didn't want to stay mad at him, but she wanted to know that what he did was wrong.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll go and find my family tonight, say hello while I'm in town," Itachi suggested. She shrugged, pouting. "I'm sure you had your reasons for not telling them. It'd be nice if you did visit them, but I know you won't." Itachi was taken aback, a small smile dancing along his features. "What's this, Hinata? Are you actually being bitter towards me?" he asked in playful disbelief. Hinata turned red, repressing the urge to apologize.

Itachi laughed a little, standing up. He opened his arms for her to hug, but it took her a moment to reciprocate. When she did hug him, he pulled her close. "You'll understand why I left soon enough," he whispered to her. She hugged him tighter. She didn't want to understand, but maybe it was because she was still feeling bitter. She asked questions and she got answers, but perhaps they weren't the answers she was looking for. They separated from their hug, and Itachi said,

"You guys can come out and talk to us now."

Sasori and Tobi stepped out from around the corner, and Hinata turned red at the thought of them hearing their private moment. "Sorry, Hinata…" Sasori held his hands up in defeat. "There isn't much else to do but eavesdrop on you guys…" Tobi nodded in agreement.

The day continued, and all Hinata did at the store that day was eat the food at the small café under the stairs and hang out with Sasori and Tobi. The three of them did stupid small jobs like sweeping and dusting and playing with the rolling ladders for the bookshelves. Hidan had to come out of his hiding place behind the shelves to yell at them for all of the noise they were causing.

"My rituals need to be done in _peace_!" he yelled at them, turning black and white as his anger rose. From where they stood, Hinata could see the dark but candlelit room, a triangle drawn in a circle on the floor. Was that blood she saw?

Itachi and his shark-like friend had gone out again, and Hinata secretly hoped that he was making good on what he said he was going to do. But knowing him, he'd do whatever he wanted to, with or without her influence. That was who he was, and all she could really do was accept it. They didn't come back before she had to leave for the night.

* * *

Hinata was in the kitchen of her house, fixing herself a snack. Neji walked in, sitting at the table as she munched on some fresh cut apples. She pushed the bowl closer to him so that they could share.

"Did you hear, Hinata?" Neji asked, taking a bite out of his apple slice. Hinata shrugged, shaking her head. "Hear what?"

Neji had a smile on his face, which was rare. Neji was usually so serious, especially when he took her out to train in the morning. But right now, he wasn't Neji her trainer, but Neji her cousin, her friend, and he was sharing some supposedly exciting news with her.

"Itachi Uchiha is back in Konoha!" he said almost excitedly, if it weren't for his perfect composure around her at all times. Hinata tried to act surprised. "O-Oh, really? That's amazing!" she tried to sound as excited as he did, but she wasn't a very good actor. Neji didn't pay any mind to it. "For good?" she asked. Neji shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe, but we can never be sure."

They shared a comfortable silence, interrupted only by the crunch of a bite of apple. "I don't see why he'd leave again." Hinata said softly, still trying to keep up her surprise. "I wonder if we'll get to see him tomorrow." Neji thought out loud. Hinata was silent again.

Neji sensed her disengagement with Itachi and decided to change the subject. "What did you do today?" he asked, looking at her. Hinata struggled to decide whether she should lie about her whereabouts or not. What reasons did she have to lie, except to keep something to herself for once. She realized that she shared everything with Neji, and that was only because she lacked anything incriminating in the first place. She had no secrets because there was nothing mysterious about her.

"Nothing really," she replied to him. "I just went to town, walked around…" Neji nodded. "You were out later than usual this afternoon, weren't you? You must have had fun." Hinata tensed up a little, but not enough for Neji to notice. _Shit. Shit. Is he on to me? Does he suspect something? Oh, man, I can't come up with anything! An excuse, anything, ANYTHING – _ She panicked. "I got a summer job, yeah," she blurted out. Neji stared at her, immediately sensing her discomfort.

She was sweating a little, her breathing erratic. She tried desperately to calm down. Neji put a gentle hand on her arm. "Hinata… Hinata, are you okay?" he asked. Hinata took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Y-Yeah… I was just… Gosh, I don't know. I'm a bit tired," she said, standing up. Neji wanted to know more about her summer job, but he supposed he'd ask her about it tomorrow, after her first day.

Hinata walked to her room, disappointed in her performance in front of Neji earlier. _That was pathetic… He probably wasn't the least bit suspicious about anything…_ She sighed as she reached her door, lazily opening it and flopping onto her bed. She also felt a bit guilty about lying to Neji for the first time. She shouldn't take advantage of his trust like that, but it was the first thing about herself that she was able to keep secret.

Instead of berating herself over it, she decided to go to sleep instead.

* * *

Thanks for sticking with me!

It feels nice to be able to write again. I have a lot of time this summer so hopefully I'll be able to get through this one soon!


	3. Deidara

The next day, Hinata made her way back to the shop. On the door, it read,

_Hinata, please make your way downstairs_

Puzzled, she entered the shop, the door creaking eerily and the entire place unnaturally dark. The only light came from a door to her right, which had a staircase leading downwards. Thoroughly unnerved, she slowly made her way to the door and then down the stairs. The door slowly closed behind her, making her even more nervous.

"H… Hello…?" She called softly. There was no reply, only a flickering light from a fire at the bottom. She saw multiple shadows as she continued her descent. Eventually, she reached the bottom, and she saw ten people in a circle around a red-orange flame. She stood still, very confused.

"_**Hinata Hyuga!"**_ a familiar voice boomed, making her jump in surprise. _**"Approach the flames!"**_

Without much of a choice, she cautiously made her way towards the center of the circle of people, making eye contact with a few of them before standing before the fire. Pein appeared across from her, the flames hot and blurring his image. _This is utterly ridiculous,_ she thought to herself, glancing around her. _Is Itachi here? Gosh, this is so silly._

Pein raised his arms suddenly, and there was a silence she didn't know could happen. It was as if there was always some sort of background noise, a sort of chant being made in the background that she never noticed until it was gone. It sent a chill down her spine.

She watched as Pein held a pitcher of water over the flame. _**"Take this, and take control of the flames of your own destiny!"**_ Hinata couldn't help but roll her eyes as she took the pitcher into her hands. She assumed that he meant pour the water over the flame, so she did exactly that. The instant the flames went out, the entire room became pitch black. She heard a quick _whoosh_ sound, and a light turned on, revealing that she was alone in the room. She stood there for a minute or two, looking around to see if the people she was just with were hiding somewhere. But she found nothing. In fact, there was literally nothing in that room except for her. No place to hide, not even under the stairs, which was an area completely visible to her. Just an empty void of a room.

An eerie feeling crept up her spine, so she quickly made her way back up to the shop's ground level, where she found Sasori and Tobi in their usual positions by the registers. She went up to them and asked, "What the hell was that!?" Sasori gave her his perfect poker face as usual, and said, "What do you mean?" he had a pleasant smile that was both calming and unreadable. Hinata gestured to the door she just came out of, but it seemed to have disappeared. She stared at the area in disbelief, and Sasori followed her gaze.

"Ah, that area over there is Deidara's section. He specializes in sculpture an all that jazz. You should go see his work. It's… really something." Sasori had a distanced look in his eye, almost similar to irritation, especially when he talked about Deidara's work. _Perhaps it's not really good?_ Hinata thought for a moment before realizing the sudden change in subject.

She slammed her hand on the table, something she never thought she'd have the courage to do. "Wait a minute, you haven't answered me – What the heck happened in the basement!?" she demanded, staring Sasori straight in the eye. He stared at her for a long while, probably debating an answer. Hinata hated it when people did that, debate lies in front of her. She briefly thought about how she did the same thing with Neji last night.

"_**INITIATION CEREMONY."**_ Pein's voice boomed from some balcony overhead. He jumped down to them in the same chaotic fashion as the last time he jumped from the sky and landed right in front of them. "That was your official Initiation ceremony, Hinata Hyuga." His presence, again, left her speechless for a few seconds before she asked, "What kind of ceremony was that? It was all so… so…" she hesitated to call it ridiculous because they probably put a lot of time and effort into it. So quickly, she said, "How did you guys disappear so quickly afterwards? And who were the other people that I haven't met yet? Why do I need initiation?"

"All your answers will come in due time…" Pein said mysteriously. Hinata really didn't understand, and she doubted she ever would, but she didn't say anything else.

Pein had jumped down to them so that they could discuss what Hinata would do today as her first job. He told her to walk around the store and explore it, really get to know it. Hinata inquired about how much she'd get paid, but Pein answered again, "Answers will come in due time…"

Ignoring that blatant display of unprofessionalism – something she'd have to work on with them later – she decided to check out this Deidara person's part of the shop. If the first floor were divided into a 3x3 grid, then Deidara's section was on the middle-right side square from the entrance. She didn't see anyone, though. All she saw were a few shelves with a few sculptures made of clay. There were different kinds of birds and spiders, and other little crawly things and other big flying things. Hinata walked around the small area, simply admiring the art as if she were in an art gallery.

She didn't notice the person emerging from a door in the corner coming out to put more sculptures on display. He didn't notice her, either. The two wandered about the section until they bumped into each other, both of them yelling in surprise. The blonde man was the first to speak.

"HEY! What the hell are you doing, hm!?" He glared at Hinata for a moment before she turned to look him in the eye. "I-I-I'm sorry!" she squealed, grasping the small clay spider that she almost knocked off of its place. The man looked her over a couple times, confused but curious. Hinata only stared back at him.

"Aren't you that girl from earlier today?" he asked. After a pause, he said "The name's Deidara, hm," and continued to place his sculptures on the shelves. Hinata studied him for a moment. He had really long blond hair that was up in a ponytail and piercing blue eyes. Well, she assumed there was a second eye under the hair that covered half of his face. He was only a few inches taller than her, and he also looked incredibly young. Maybe he was her age?

"U-Uh… My name is…" she began, looking down at the spider. "Hinata Hyuga, hm. I know." Deidara said without looking at her. "Leader always says your whole name, hm, especially when he yells it across the store." When he had run out of stuff to put on the shelves, he turned to her and smiled a little. "Do you like my art?"

Hinata realized that her clumsy self probably shouldn't be holding such a fragile thing, so she quickly stammered out, "O-Oh, uh, w-well. I mean, when we b-bumped into each other I just… The spider was… I almost…" In her bumbling, the spider managed to slip out of her hands. In seemingly slow motion, the two watched the spider fall to the floor, with an almost satisfying crack and crumble as it collided with the floor. The two were silent for a moment, and Deidara crouched down beside his destroyed creation.

"I-I-I –!" Hinata stammered, her hands traveling to her face in sheer embarrassment. "I-I'm so sorry, Deidara! Oh – Oh my god!" she was about to cry until Deidara said, "Well, the crashing noise could have been better." Confused, Hinata peeked through her fingers and looked at him. "Wh… What…?" She whispered. It was then that tears began to fall down her face on their own, because Hinata was so confused that she didn't know what to feel. She was guilty and relieved and panic-stricken and sad to have brought an end to such a beautiful piece of art.

Deidara noticed her crying and stood up, removing her hands and cupping her face with his, using his thumb to wipe away the tears. Hinata felt something strangely moist on her cheek – as if something were licking her. She observed that Deidara's face was clearly not doing the licking, so what could –

"Oh man, I'm sorry. I guess they like salty things," Deidara pulled away from her face to show her the mouths on his hands. Any normal person would have screamed and fainted at such a sight, but for some reason Hinata was unafraid. In fact, she was still so bewildered by her feelings in that moment that she still had tears running down her face. Deidara looked worried and honestly felt guilty for making her cry so much. "Hey, hey, now, hm. No need to cry, Hinata, it's totally fine. Look, see?"

Deidara grabbed another random sculpture on the shelf and threw it to the ground with an enthusiastic "Hm!", the crashing noise significantly more satisfying than last time. Hinata's eyes widened with surprise, the tears halting in their tracks. He grinned at her, the lack of tears an indication for him to destroy another one. But before he could throw it to the ground again, Hinata stopped him. "W-Wait…! Why are you – ?" she stammered again, totally and utterly confused.

Why? What do you mean why? Deidara was never really one to think his actions through enough to constitute an answer to this simple question. The answer just came so naturally to him that he never thought of the possibility that other people wouldn't understand. His actions were as natural to him as breathing, albeit they were rather impulsive to some tastes. No one around here really asked him for a reason to his actions anyway.

"Why what, hm?" Deidara asked. Hinata, dumbfounded, gestured to the now two broken pieces on the ground. "Why… Why would you just destroy your hard work like that?" She asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Deidara thought about the question. He remembered being asked that question before. In fact, it was in this same context, with Sasori standing in Hinata's place. There were a lot less tears, though, and Sasori was angrier than anything.

"_You have such amazing work here, Deidara! Why would you just destroy it like that?" _

He smiled at the memory, and recognized Hinata as another opportunity to explain his art.

Deidara took a chunk of clay and put it in one of his hand-mouth. Hinata stared in wonder as it chewed the clay and spat out a small bird. "This is my art, hm," he said, holding the bird up in front of her. The bird suddenly exploded, a small flash of light whose warmth was felt for only a moment. She gasped, but couldn't turn away. She looked up at Deidara, who was grinning ear-to-ear. His eyes were brighter and he was clearly excited.

"You see – Art is transient, hm." Deidara gestured to the few shelves of his work. "All of these sculptures will one day be destroyed, by me or by someone else – like you, hm." Hinata blushed a little, a bit with embarrassment, a bit by how fascinated she was with his excitement. Deidara saw her interest and blushed a little to, flattered. Could it be that she was really into his art?

He suddenly shoved another piece of art into her arms. It was a rather large one, and Hinata felt an unfamiliar excitement coarse through her. Why was she getting so riled up? His excitement was infectious.

"My art wasn't meant to last forever, hm –" Deidara said, grabbing another sculpture of his. He held it up and gestured for her to do the same. "– and that makes my art much more beautiful." At the same time, Hinata and Deidara sent the sculptures to the ground. Smiling wider than she had in a while, Hinata grabbed another one and threw it to the ground. Deidara did the same, his grin growing wider. The two of them continued to destroy the sculptures, totally lost in satisfying chaos.

As Hinata threw the sculptures to the ground, she felt more and more relieved. This was a good stress-reliever, she thought. It felt as though she were releasing her frustrations out on Deidara's art. Nothing is permanent, she thought, not even her place in life. Seeing the crumbled pieces of the sculptures on the ground and seeing the bright grin on Deidara's face, she felt more peace than she had felt in a long time.

"_Katsu – hm!"_ she heard, and there was a bright flash and a burst of heat all around her. For a moment, she thought that she had died, but realized that, in their excitement, Deidara detonated a bunch of the little pieces on the ground. There were a bunch of small explosions all around them, and Hinata looked in wonder at the small bursts of flame, bursts of art.

Afterwards, things settled down between them. She saw smoke carry around the store, setting off the fire alarm. Suddenly, water began pouring out of randomly placed sprinklers, and she noticed for the intricate fire alarm system that took place. The precious bookshelves were immediately turned themselves into the wall, and she could hear Hidan's loud cursing from behind them. The flowers at the front of the store had all somehow grown back into the soil, as if hiding from the potential threat. She heard a bunch of other stalls in the store defend themselves mechanically. All the people she knew to be in the store had also disappeared suddenly, leaving only Hinata and Deidara in their station, soaking wet and covered in clay dust and soot from the explosions.

"Oh, shit, hm." Deidara grabbed her arm and led her out of the store, where Sasori, Tobi, Kakuzu, Pein and a few other people she hadn't met were standing, somehow completely dry and also looking very irritated.

Pein looked the most irritated out of all of them.

"_**Hinata Hyuga and Deidara – EXPLAIN YOURSELVES!"**_

Deidara stood in front of Hinata and said, "It wasn't her fault, hm. It was all me, I got carried away with my art and…" Hinata didn't really listen to what Deidara used to appease Pein's anger, because she was looking at all of the people that worked in the shop for the first time.

There was a surprisingly low amount of people in proportion to the shop, she thought. They were also mostly men, with the exception of one woman and – was that a plant with a face? What a strange looking bunch. Would she get to know all of these people eventually?

"_**HINATA HYUGA."**_ Pein said suddenly, snapping Hinata's attention back to him.

"You and Deidara are now on water damage assessment duty – starting now!" What Pein really meant was that _everyone_ was on water damage assessment duty, since it was a large store and some specialized sections of the store were only repairable through their section leader's skills. But all the small and annoying bits were of course assigned to Deidara and Hinata, beginning with all the miscellaneous paper items that don't usually get their own mechanical protection in the store.

All the books and stationary were spread out around them on a table, Hinata and Deidara pointing hair dryers at them. Afterwards they would have to mark down the price due to such water damage, which will probably irritate the leader very much.

Hinata glanced at Deidara, who looked annoyed. "This work is so tedious, hm." He muttered to himself, catching Hinata's gaze. He sighed and said, "Hey, I'm sorry I got so worked up back there, hm." He looked over her soaked and soot-covered outfit and added, "And I'm sorry that I ruined your outfit, hm. That clay stuff is hard to get off and that kind of explosive stuff can stain a bit, hm." Hinata appreciated the apology, but she understood now what it was like to be so passionate about something.

"Hey, it wasn't meant to last forever, right?" she said to him, smiling. He blushed a little, happy that he was able to instill the lesson of his art into another person for the first time. "Right, hm." He replied to her.

-:-

When Hinata got home that evening, Neji stared curiously at her ruined outfit. "What happened to you!?" He asked in a worried voice. Hinata looked at his worry and laughed – not to be rude, but because she thought it was genuinely funny that he was so concerned over such a small thing like her clothes. "All that stuff will take forever to take out – what did you do to yourself today?" Neji persisted, still concerned.

Hinata shook her head. "Just an accident at work," she said to him.

"Don't worry, nothing is permanent."

* * *

Thanks for the reviews, guys. Even just one is enough to motivate me, eheh. I hate to ask for them, so when they do come it's such a nice surprise. Sometimes you guys even help me spot continuity errors, y'know? I hope you can help me in that way in the future!


	4. Sasori

I update quick because I have no life hhhhhh;;;;;

* * *

Hinata was getting ready to leave again for another day of… work? Was it really work? Maybe she should ask Pein when she was getting paid. Does she even have a schedule to come in? Does she get weekends off? Holidays? She decided to compile a list of things to ask Pein the next time he decides to jump from some high place and onto the registers – something that can't possibly be good for the countertops, which is another thing she should add to the list.

-How much / When do I get paid

-What's my schedule?

-Do I get weekends off?

-Employee discounts? _(Not that she was particularly drawn to anything in the shop yet)_

-Where is the other half of the crew?

-Why does Hidan live in the bookshelves (employee health/rights issue?)

-You will literally destroy the counters if you keep jumping on them like that

-What am I even doing here? What's my job description?

It was a somewhat hefty list after the first three days of pseudo-employment. She tucked the piece of paper into her breast pocket and headed for her bedroom door, and was surprised to see Neji standing in her way. "Neji?" she looked at him curiously – he was dressed like he was going out for the day. "Hinata…" he began, but hesitated.

Hinata began to feel a familiar anxiety that came with the guilt of hiding your whereabouts, even though she came out and told him – vaguely. _I don't want to lie to him again, but I can tell he's getting worried… I wonder what I can tell him…_ She dreaded what he would suggest, because she was pretty sure it was about her work. She wished he wasn't so worried, because she still needed to smooth out the details – which was what she was planning to do today. If she could just have more time –

"Hinata, I want to visit the place you work at!" Neji said, finally. Yeah, she figured as much. Thinking on her feet, she said, "I don't know if I can have visitors while at work…" Neji nodded, crestfallen. "Then… Maybe, can I just… Can I at least walk you to work?"

_Shit, shit. Uh..._ There wasn't really any reason he couldn't, so she reluctantly agreed. Together they left the house, and they silently walked down the street. _Oh no… Once he sees that it's a shop… he'll want to go in and browse!_ Hinata realized, seeing that they were approaching the shop. She wanted to just keep walking past the store, but when they arrived there, Hinata noticed that there weren't any flowers outside. It was just… It looked like a convenience store from the outside.

Neji noticed that Hinata stopped walking and looked at the rather plain building they were standing in front of. "Is this… where you work, Hinata?" he asked, trying but failing to not sound unimpressed. _I don't see why she needed to keep this place a secret from me…_ Hinata looked at him, just as confused as he looked. "Um… Y-Yes…?" The two walked in, and Hinata was relieved to see Sasori at the register, which was to the immediate left of the entrance this time.

Sasori had the same poker face that he always wore. He saw Hinata's confusion and winked at her briefly before addressing Neji. "Welcome! Hinata, is this your brother?" he asked casually, as if the store wasn't totally transformed into a less than remarkable convenience store. "Cousin, actually," Neji corrected politely, smiling and giving Sasori a handshake. _This place is completely normal…_ Neji thought to himself, ignoring the fact that Hinata looked uncomfortable for some reason.

"Neji, Hinata needs to go change into her uniform in the back," Sasori said. "Do you need help finding anything while you're here?" He gave him a polite smile. Neji shook his head, returning the smile. "Ah, no, I was just walking Hinata to work. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about!" he chuckled a little. Hinata tugged at Neji's sleeve and said, "So… I'm gonna go now, okay? Thanks… Thanks for walking me…" Neji nodded, then said goodbye to both of them. "It was nice meeting you! Please take care of her!" he waved and then left the building.

He briefly wondered, _I wonder how Hinata came home last night covered in soot from a convenience store…_

Back at the shop, Hinata stared at Sasori for answers. He just smiled and snapped his fingers, and slowly the convenience store morphed back into the traveling wonder-art odd shop emporium. Hinata saw that she and Sasori were really just standing in the flower section in the front of the store, the plants growing from where they were previously covered. Hinata watched as the flowers grew from buds into bloomed plants in a matter of seconds, amazed.

"Hey, Hinata, do you want to go see what I do for the store?" Sasori asked once everything was back to normal. Hinata nodded, but asked, "Sasori… don't you just tend to the registers?" He smiled a little, saying, "It'd be such a boring life if all I did was handle cash registers for a place that barely gets any customers." Hinata pondered over this, supposing that it was only logical that Sasori had a trade of his own. Sasori's section of the store was directly opposite to Deidara's.

This section, unlike Deidara's, was fully stuffed with a bunch of large and small puppets. His largest ones were as big as people, and the smaller ones were little toy-like dolls on marionette strings. It was a very colorful display, and Hinata stared in wonder at the puppets. Some of them were extremely lifelike, as if they could jump out at her any moment now. Sasori enjoyed seeing the look on her face as she studied the puppets and sighed.

Hinata looked at him then, smiling. "How long have you been into puppet-making, Sasori?" She asked excitedly. Sasori shrugged, absently counting on his fingers. "Oh, my… Since I was young…" He gestured to two of the human-sized ones. "These were my first ones… I made them like, 28-ish years ago, when I was seven." Hinata nodded, looking over the puppet.

_28 years… ago…_ Completely alarmed, she looked at Sasori and asked, "T-Twenty-eight!? Sasori… Sasori, how old are you!?" Sasori looked a bit surprised at her reaction, but kept face nonetheless. He gave her a calming smile and said, "Me? I'm 35."

_WHY IS HE SAYING THAT LIKE IT'S NOT COMPLETELY ABSURD!?_ Hinata stared at him, mouth agape. Sasori chuckled a little and said, "Why is that so surprising? Don't I look 35 years old?" He held his arms up defensively, a small smile on his face. _YOU BARELY LOOK 17, SASORI – !_

Hinata took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Tell me more about these puppets," she said, avoiding his question. She saw in his eyes a familiar enthusiasm, one that she remembered seeing in Deidara yesterday. "These puppets are my art," he said, looking lovingly upon his creations. Hinata couldn't help but stare at him – she found that artists, people in general even, look their best when they talk about things they're passionate about. It was really nice seeing the usually calm and stoic Sasori get even a little excited about something. Very refreshing.

"Unlike Deidara," he began, "My art _was_ meant to last forever. All the greatest artists in the world have something to show for it, centuries after they have died." He gazed upon his parent's image in his puppets, smiling. "People memorialize things all the time – things that weren't necessarily _built_ to last, but were made to leave an eternal memory." Hinata was hypnotized by his surprisingly soothing voice and his poetic way of speaking. She could tell he had it all figured out, and that he had been waiting for the right moment to let it all out.

Hinata studied one of the smaller puppets and asked, "Sasori… Do you… Do you think I can try making my own?" He clearly brightened up at this, and he immediately made his way to his back room. It smelled like cut wood and had a very cozy bed and seating area in the far corners. There was a clear division between the work place and the bedroom part, even though the room itself was small. Were the other Akatsuki employees' rooms like this?

Sasori dragged a stool over next to his usual one, and he began to teach her the basics of puppet making. "It's simple, really. You just start with…"

They spent an hour or so on puppet making, the two of them creating small talk between them.

"Sasori… do you not like Deidara's art?" Hinata asked after a little while. Sasori paused, choosing his words. "I… really like Deidara's art. I know it doesn't seem like I would, but it's really nice." He looked at her, quickly analyzing her puppet's progress and then continued, "I just… I just hate what he does with it. This whole, 'Art is a bang,' stuff he keeps spewing really pisses me off because his art, his sculptures, have so much potential to last through the ages, through all of time. But then he goes and…" He looked somewhat saddened for a moment, an emotion that Hinata didn't know he could express.

"If you couldn't tell, I'm a very sentimental person. I'd love to keep one of Deidara's sculptures for myself, as a token of our friendship and our camaraderie as artists, but he either doesn't make it sturdy enough to last, blows it up, or comes over and breaks it in the middle of the night – trying to make it look like an accident, mind you." Sasori put down his puppet and stretched his arms into the air. "I even gave him one of my puppets, but the idiot blew it up." Hinata's mouth hung open for a second in disbelief that Deidara would do such a thing, but upon further assessment realized that yes, blowing up a gift is exactly something Deidara would do.

Hinata looked at her puppet for a moment, not so much to assess the doll but just to pause in thought. "I'm sure Deidara didn't mean anything bad by it, Sasori," she said after a pause. Sasori looked at her, curious. Hinata also chose her words carefully. "Explosions and all that stuff… they're the most precious thing to Deidara… So he was probably thanking you in the biggest way he possibly could." Sasori stared at her, wide-eyed with surprise.

_Of course…_ he thought to himself. He knew Deidara for only a little while, but in that time they had definitely become friends – as artists do. They recognized each other as artists, but respectfully rejected each other's form of art. He lived these past few years just accepting that they were polar opposites instead of looking at it his way. Sasori felt silly for building such a high wall between their art styles.

A little while passed, and Hinata managed to create a rather decent-looking puppet version of herself. Sasori was also working on a new one, with his own likeness as well. "You can keep this forever, Sasori!" Hinata said to him, a proud smile on her face. Sasori smiled a little, taking the two puppets of theirs and hanging it on a display case out in the shop, near his section. _Cute!_ Sasori thought to himself. He held an arm out to Hinata and pulled her into a comfortable side-hug. "They look great, don't they?" Sasori said with a wistful sigh. "Yeah, they really d –"

Hinata felt something crinkle in her breast pocket. Her great mood was immediately ruined.

_The list!_ She mentally hit herself for forgetting such an important thing. Without addressing these important things, she had very little point of being here!

As if his name were called, the mysterious Pein appeared before them, probably in the same fashion he has been appearing. "What beautiful puppets, you two. Did you spend all this time making them instead of working like I asked?" He had a false smile on his face, but Hinata was not frightened.

"A-Actually, Pein…" Hinata took out the list of questions and walked up to him. "I have… a few questions for you…" Pein looked at her intensely – at least, she thought it was intense, but then again it could have been the way he looks at everyone – and then at the note in her hand. He quickly snatched it from her grasp and read over the first couple, nodding to himself. "Step into my office, Hinata Hyuga. We may talk there." Pein gave Sasori a nod, and suddenly the floor opened up below them, sending only Hinata and Pein down into its depths.

Hinata screamed all the way down, which was a 10-second fall, before she landed in the softest chair she has ever felt. It was dark until a dramatic light shined upon Pein at a desk. The list Hinata had compiled earlier fluttered down onto her lap. She was completely blown away – confused, frankly a bit frightened – that is, until the lights turned on fully and illuminated a fully furnished basement, piled high with probably unread books and a couch or two along the walls.

"Ask me your questions, Hinata." Pein commanded, his face partially hidden behind his interlaced fingers.

It took Hinata a moment to collect herself, but when she did, she began with, "Um… What exactly… Did you want me to accomplish here, sir?" Pein began to speak, but Hinata cut in, " –and please, don't… don't say that the answer will come to me in due time." Pein smirked at her confidence. Very few people had the courage to interrupt him.

"Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium…" He said in his usual deep voice. "We are an odd shop indeed, Hinata Hyuga, don't you agree?" Hinata nodded slowly, trying and failing to see where he was going with this. "We're a sort of… hobby shop, a collector shop. We collect many things." Pein glanced at her. "Rather, the store collects. It collects people, stories, things that make people unique." Hinata was confused, but persisted in listening.

"What I need you to do, Hinata, is further your story. That is the big picture. That is the goal. But in the much smaller one, I need you to help everyone else." Pein stepped closer to her, peering at the list. Hinata looked at the list as well, searching for the next question to ask. It was funny, none of them seemed relevant anymore.

"I will not pay you."

At this, Hinata looked at him sternly. "Excuse me? But you said –" Pein raised a hand to silence her.

Hinata saw a small smile play upon his face. She felt on edge, apprehensive. Pein turned to her, standing tall and proud, exuding an aura of power.

"It is up to you whether or not you wish to return to us, Hinata Hyuga."

Hinata was suddenly dropped into another trap door. Somehow, she dropped onto her bed, in her room, at the Hyuga estate.

Surprised and somewhat terrified, Hinata looked around her room for any sort of tunnel. There wasn't any, and Akatsuki had given her another mystery on top of their many others.

_Just… Just what is Akatsuki, anyway!?_

* * *

All the ages and stuff mentioned here are taken from the Naruto Wiki site… I was really surprised by a lot of their ages…

Did you know that Kakuzu is in is 90's, according to Narutopedia? Crazy shit, bruh.

Thanks for reading!


	5. The Artists

Thanks for your kind words!

* * *

Hinata woke up that morning without a purpose.

Well, she knew she had a purpose – a purpose for life, a purpose to exist, a reason to be here, born as a Hyuga and all that jazz – but what she meant was that today, she didn't have to go to the Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium. She supposed it was a bit dramatic to say that she had no _purpose_ without the Akatsuki, but gosh, for a few precious days she felt so… so alive. She felt needed because they had expressed outright a need that they said only she could provide.

She never got out of bed, mostly because of the previously stated lack of purpose. She turned over on her bed, lost in thought.

_What's so special about me, anyway?_ Again she managed to bring up examples of how _not_ special she was. She had no special skills outside of being a ninja, but even so she was expressly average as both a civilian and a shinobi. She didn't even have art skills like Deidara and Sasori, or intimidating leader-like qualities like Pein.

Hinata pulled the covers over her head and sighed.

_The Akatsuki don't need me…_

* * *

Sasori made his daily rounds around the store, checking up on everyone. During these check-ups he took stock of things that never left the shelves, asked individual people what they felt they needed, things like that. Every time he did this, it became an even bigger mystery to him how this store even exists despite everything being against him. Everything being against them isn't even an exaggeration. Sasori had seen the banking records from Kakuzu and how there always seemed to be an overstock of stuff – this store literally should not exist. With no set business plan, the so-called employees don't even get paid. It was as if the store were completely invisible to the public eye. Still, he continued his rounds and check-ups.

When he was finished, he sat at the registers and looked over the lists and things, deciding where in the archives to put them. He looked at the clock and realized that it was a bit later in the morning than he expected. It felt as if some part of his morning were missing. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he went about his day like he usually did.

That is, until he heard the bell that hung above the door jingle, signaling a customer. Sasori quickly looked to the door, excited, but it was just Tobi coming in from watering the plants. Somewhat disappointed, he lazily looked around the room until his gaze fell upon the display case near his section of the store.

_Oh… Hinata isn't here today…_

* * *

Deidara was lying on his bed, throwing tiny sculptures into the air and making them explode. He felt incredibly bored, more so than usual. He found himself thinking about a lot of things, especially Hinata and all the fun they had in just those few hours the other day. He couldn't remember the last time he had fun with his art – or maybe fun in general. Sure, making sculptures was fine and dandy, and blowing them up was even better, but it was really nice and refreshing to have an audience that wasn't full of rolling eyes and terrified faces.

He also couldn't remember the last time someone actually understood what his art meant. At least, he thought she understood. It sure looked like she understood when she grabbed one of the sculptures and threw it on the ground without his permission – not that she needed it anyway. His sculptures were easily replaced with newer creations, just as they were meant to be.

The bell on the door jingled softly from outside, signaling a customer. Deidara suddenly sat up, the sculpture he threw into the air attaching to the ceiling and exploding. It created a rather ugly hole in his ceiling and in the second floor. He didn't really mind or care because his focus completely on the door. He peeked out of his room and into the store, anticipating that Hinata was there, but alas, it was only Tobi entering the building. He saw that Sasori was equally alert to Hinata's potential presence, and observed that he was also equally disappointed. Deidara followed Sasori's gaze to the display cabinet and saw the two puppets they made.

_When did those happen?_ He thought to himself.

For the first time in ages, Deidara decided to speak to Sasori. Y'know, casually. He slowly approached Sasori at the registers, unsure of what to say at first. He stood there awkwardly for about ten seconds before Sasori noticed him. Stoic and somewhat intimidating in Deidara's eyes, Sasori looked him over briefly before saying, "Can I help you?"

Deidara was almost hurt at the formal tone Sasori gave him. Did they really let time pass long enough for them to stop being familiar with each other? He recalled a time where they would regularly greet each other every day and talk during break time, but the look on Sasori's face had changed quite a bit since then. Was it boredom now? Or was it complete disdain over the difference in art trade between them? It took him a moment to think of an actual response.

"I… I just wanted to, uh…" What was the word… Talk? "…talk to you, hm." Deidara uncharacteristically stuttered, and Sasori just stared at him. "About?" he asked rather coldly, not making this any easier for Deidara.

Having no other words in his vocabulary at this moment, Deidara pointed to the two new puppets that Hinata and Sasori made the day before. "I was wondering… what that was all about, hm," Deidara said cautiously. Sasori looked fondly upon the puppets for a brief second, but again melted into a seamless mask of indifference. "She wanted to make a puppet, so I taught her how," he said curtly again.

Looking at the puppets, Sasori was reminded of what Hinata said about Deidara. He wasn't some pyromaniac idiot with no appreciation for the arts – he was _Deidara_ the pyromaniac idiot with his own _unique_ way of appreciating the arts. Sasori supposed he should lighten up a little, for Hinata's sake.

The two walked over to Sasori's station, Deidara trying to hide the disgust he held for having dust accumulate onto the pieces of art. He was used to dust on art, sure – he was a sculptor after all – but to have actual dust, _time_ dust, on work as intricately beautiful as Sasori's? Unimaginable. Inexcusable on mother nature's part. Deidara was getting agitated just thinking about it, but he was pretty good at hiding that much.

Sasori, of course, read Deidara like a book. Perhaps it was time that made him so good at reading people, or maybe Deidara was just shit at hiding his emotions. Regardless, Deidara was clearly bothered. "You know, Deidara," he began, catching Deidara's attention. He looked nervous about being addressed directly. Sasori sighed, his unknowingly tense shoulders loosening up a bit. He wished that Deidara would do the same. "Deidara, you can relax, okay? You're putting _me_ on edge with all your… your awkwardness." Deidara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Wow, okay, that's a relief, hm," he said softly.

Sasori was adjusting a puppet that had somehow gotten out of place. "I know you hate these puppets, but I wouldn't expect you of all people to understand –"

"I like them, hm," Deidara said quickly and defensively. Sasori paused to look at him. "I… I always envied your attention to detail…" Deidara's face flushed a little, embarrassed about what he was saying. "I… I like your puppets a lot, hm. I just… I just hate how dust accumulates on them," Deidara absently patted down one of the larger puppets in front of him. Sasori thought that dust was a strange concern for Deidara to have, judging by all the clay dust he always had on his shoulders and hair, but he stayed silent so that he could continue talking.

Deidara could feel himself sweating. He felt awkward and out of his element, and he needed to just surround himself in his own art and breathe in some clay-filled air so he could feel comfortable again. But he knew that this was a special moment with his fellow artist, and he couldn't fuck this up.

"I know you don't understand my art at all, hm, but…" Deidara started, trailing off for a moment. Sasori wanted to disagree, but stayed silent. "… but I just feel like time doesn't appreciate your art like it should be. It's easy for your stuff to be hung up on a wall and forgotten about, hm, left in the background – n-no offense –" Deidara felt like he was rambling, but when he looked at Sasori, he saw a look on his face that he hadn't seen in a long time.

It was a smile, a genuine smile.

Sasori felt like what Deidara was saying was really validating what Hinata said about him earlier. She was totally right, he thought. Deidara does hold only respect for his art. He just shows it in really different ways.

Deidara totally lost his train of thought. Sasori looked him in the eyes and said, "Thank you, Deidara. That means a lot."

Amazed but somewhat embarrassed, Deidara absently looked at the puppet in front of him. "If I can… I'd like to see your sculptures, too," Sasori added, enjoying Deidara's excited expression under his usual mask of indifference.

The two spent the rest of the day getting to know each other's art. Sasori found himself throwing a couple sculptures to the ground, wondering if the lightness he felt came from the thrill of destruction. Deidara couldn't look any more proud. Sasori didn't know how to teach Deidara what permanence in art really meant, but he was content in knowing that Deidara did appreciate his art form.

It had been a long time since the artists appreciated each other's existence.

* * *

Pein watched from above as Sasori and Deidara created a living bond over the destruction of artworks. He smiled, happy for their revitalized friendship. Hinata Hyuga briefly crossed his mind, and he smiled a bit wider, proud of his decision to let her into the Akatsuki. He knew for a fact that she was an appropriate catalyst of change for this organization, and had full confidence that she would find her way back to them when the time was right.

They had all season to wait for her.

* * *

To answer a couple questions that you guys have asked last chapter:

To anonion: you weren't rude at all! Any and all inquiries/comments/observations are welcome! Thanks for reading and liking it! I've been working on making all the relationships platonic because in my previous stories (which, in my defense, were written when I was in middle school and was not at all a great writer) I was so quick to put a romance in. But y'know, whatever happens, happens!

To one of the guest reviewers: (The one who asked about the building) I should do a better job of explaining the magical powers building… but I suppose in the story a lot of questions about the Akatsuki in general are left unanswered, so I suppose it'd be weird to give a full explanation on something as mysterious as the shop!


	6. Tobi and Zetsu

It has been a few days since Hinata was last at the Akatsuki shop. She missed them terribly and she was really looking forward to meeting more of them, but she was already convinced that she wasn't needed there. Nevermind that they weren't paying her, and nevermind that she didn't really have a proper job description. She felt out of place there all of a sudden, and she didn't think she had it in her to go back.

These past couple of days, she could feel herself sinking. She was slowly falling off the radar. She couldn't bring herself to hang out with her friends outside of training. She found herself lounging around the house, her only time of activity being training with Neji and her teammates. The rest of the day she spent reading or on the computer or additional training if she was up to it. It wasn't at all boring to her, but she could admit that it was a bit lonely. Perhaps this was the life she was meant to live. Slow, quiet, passing by unnoticed until her inevitable demise.

She sat at her desk, writing nonsense poems and prose in her notebook, listening to the rain outside. She stopped and sighed, putting down her pen and looking outside her window. There was a familiar-looking flower on her window sill that wasn't there before. She couldn't place where she had seen it. She took it in her hand, looking it over and then looking out the window to see if the person who left it there was nearby. Of course they weren't, so Hinata sad back in her seat and looked over the flower once more, trying to figure out where it came from.

There was a knock at her door, so she got up and answered it, the flower still in her hand. It was Neji. She stepped aside to let him in, and he sat on her bed while she returned to her desk. "What's up, Hinata?" he asked, trying to make conversation. Hinata shrugged and held up the flower. "Did you give me this?" she asked, even though she knew there was no way for him to do so without her noticing. It wasn't there before she started writing, so she definitely would have at least seen him. Neji shook his head, looking at the flower curiously.

He turned his attention back to Hinata, who was still focused on the flower. "Don't you have work today, Hinata?" he asked, his tone suggesting that he was asking about more than just work. Hinata twirled on her chair, contemplating on how to answer the question. "I don't… feel cut out for work," she said softly. "How come?" Neji asked, listening carefully. She took a bit longer to reply, choosing her words carefully.

Why doesn't she feel cut out for work? Maybe it's because she doesn't have anything to offer at work. All she's done is goof off, make a couple friends of her coworkers and do a whole lot of nothing. Hinata felt a tear roll down her cheek, and then she felt Neji's arms pull her into a hug. She hugged him tightly and said, "I'm not good enough for work. I'm not as special as they are and I really doubt they'd notice if I were gone." Neji quieted her tears by gently patting her head. He was silently confused about her passion of working at that convenience store, but focused on how troubled she was.

"I know it's hard to hear right now," Neji started, "but I think that if you really want to be there, then you should." Hinata stayed silent, so he continued. "You can't read their minds, and if they can't speak their minds then that's their problem." Hinata looked up at him. "Keep going to work until they fire you, Hinata. That's just how it is." He shrugged, and Hinata smiled.

After making sure that she was okay, Neji left her room and Hinata sat at her desk, contemplating what he said. Neji was so nice to comfort her like that. She was glad that he was her cousin. He was always such a great support for her, and she loved him for it.

Feeling refreshed, Hinata decided to take a walk for the first time in ages. The sun was out and the light breeze made the day pretty much perfect for walking. Not long after she left the house, she heard a concerning rustle in the bushes along the path. Hinata glanced at the bushes nervously, picking up her pace. Did she really pick a bad time to take a walk?

She heard footsteps behind her. Without looking back, she quickened her pace again, feeling a bit silly for her fast-walk down the street. The footsteps behind her picked up again, and she really began to freak out. The rustling in the bushes were getting louder and closer. A single bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face. Against her better judgment – and basic common sense, actually – she turned around a corner and into an alleyway.

Feeling like an idiot, she kept walking down the alleyway. She didn't have much choice, since the footsteps that were following her were still behind her. However, after a few more steps, they stopped, and so did she.

"Now, Zetsu!"

Hinata braced herself, closing her eyes and waiting for something horrible to happen. A moment later, something unexpected happened – she smelled flowers. Particularly, the scent of the flower she found on her windowsill earlier. She opened her eyes and saw that the bricked alleyway had been covered completely in flowers and other forms of vegetation. The sunlight that managed to peek into the alleyway was reflecting off of the dew on the petals. She stared at the plants in a familiar wonder and curiosity and after a moment realized that this could only be the work of…

"Hinata… Hyuga…" A rather timid voice called to her. Hinata looked in the direction of the voice, which was the same direction that the other person's footsteps came from – behind her. She saw Tobi, the man in the orange mask. She was relieved for a moment, but couldn't shake the feeling of being watched from another vantage point.

"Tobi…?" Hinata said softly, taking a step toward him. "What… Why were you…" she was left speechless, mostly due to confusion, which happened to be a rather common emotion when dealing with the Akatsuki.

Tobi cleared his throat, and in a very formal tone, said, "Leader Pein requests your presence in his office within the next –" Tobi glanced at his watch " – now."

Very suddenly, Hinata found that she was being swallowed by what seemed like a giant Venus Flytrap. She would scream if there was time – but the second the mouth of the plant closed, a sort of perfume was sprayed at her and she slowly slipped away into darkness. Before her eyes closed completely, she saw the flowers growing back into the brick walls.

* * *

Hinata woke with a start in someone else's bed. She sat straight up and swerved around, almost knocking over the plant on the night stand.

"**Hey, watch it!"** a voice yelled at her in a tiny voice. Hinata's nostrils were once again filled with the scent of the flowers from before. She looked around the room, alarmed and confused. The room was empty except for her and another bed on the other side of the room. There were also two shelves with a bunch of books, ranging from novels to books on gardening and horticulture.

"_Um, hello,"_ another voice alerted her to the presence of someone, but she couldn't find them for the life of –

Hinata felt something wrap around her arm – was it a vine? She tried to jerk away from it but it gently pulled her back onto the bed. The vine quickly retracted, and Hinata followed it up to the potted plant on the nightstand. There, a Venus flytrap-like thing opened up and revealed to her half of a black and white… person? She leaned closer to it and it said, **"Hinata Hyuga, right?**_ Hey, don't be so rude to the girl, look at her – _**The leader's expecting you, now get out of my – **_our –_** room!"**

The two sides seemed to have a mind of their own, yet they shared one body. She would have obeyed orders if she weren't so fascinated with the creature in front of her. The plant seemed pretty irritated – at least, half of it was – and suddenly it began to grow more. Hinata backed up against the wall, staring as the plant grew to the point where it began to tower over her. It grew out until it had one leg on the ground, but half of it was still materializing out of the pot. It didn't really hit her yet that she was in some kind of danger, mostly because half of her trusted half of the plant. The half that was telling the other half to calm down, to give her a minute to recover from being swallowed by them back in the alley – things like that.

Just then, Tobi walked into the room carrying a tray with tea on it. Seeing that the plant was growing larger and larger, Tobi dropped the tray in alarm and ran up to the scene. "Z-Zetsu! Stop, please!" Hinata heard a low growl come from the plant –Zetsu – and it was then that a tremor of fear rippled through her. She looked on either side of her, and she saw that plants began sprouting all around her, vines slowly snaking themselves around her limbs. She could rip them off of her, but they came back almost instantly. She calmly looked up at Zetsu again, which earned her a confused look from the plant. They stared at each other, and Hinata felt the vines grip her tighter and tighter…

"What's going on, hm!?" Deidara appeared at the door, followed by Sasori. The two ran for Hinata, Sasori reaching to release her from the vines and Deidara pulled her from the bed and into his arms. She looked up at him and he smiled at her. "Welcome back, hm," he said, pushing her behind him to make sure Zetsu couldn't hurt her. Zetsu's vines spread all over the room, almost closing in on everyone.

Suddenly, the lights went out and it went completely dark in the room.

There was a wheezing sound and the voice of White Zetsu saying _"I'm sooorrrryyyy…."_ Faded into its tiniest voice and then it became quiet.

Everyone looked to the doorway, which was the only source of light. Pein was standing there, a woman with blue hair standing beside him.

"L… Leader…" Sasori said awkwardly. Pein turned on the lights again, Zetsu being reduced to the bedside plant he was earlier. Hinata trembled, the excitement being more than she was used to. Deidara wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his hand resting at the top of her head. Sasori moved to stand next to them, his hand brushing against Hinata's arm to make sure she was okay. She nodded to him.

"Hinata Hyuga," Pein said at a surprisingly normal vocal volume. Even so, Hinata tensed up at the sound of her name. "I'm glad you could make it," he said, stepping towards her. She boldly stepped towards him as well, leaving Deidara's and Sasori's comfortable presence.

There was a long silence of Pein and Hinata looking at each other until Hinata finally said, "Why am I here?" Pein smiled at her courage to face him and said, "Because we need you." Hinata looked him in the eyes and then shook her head. "No, you don't... There's nothing here that I could bring that you guys don't already have." For a moment she felt tears burning in her eyes, but she held them back. Pein saw her almost-tears and softened his look a bit. He put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and tears began to fall. _Nobody needs me,_ she thought bitterly, trying to discreetly wipe her tears.

She felt Deidara and Sasori walk up next to her, smiling sympathetically and taking her hands in theirs.

"We don't have a Hinata Hyuga yet," Pein said, smiling a little. Hinata looked at him and then at Deidara and Sasori, who were all smiling at her. Tears kept falling down her face, but they didn't taste like sadness so much anymore. She gripped Deidara's and Sasori's hands tighter and smiled.

* * *

Hinata hung out at the Akatsuki shop for a little while, deciding to visit with Tobi while he was watering the flowers. She sat on the bench at the front of the store, where her interaction with the Akatsuki began. "Hello, Hinata!" Tobi greeted her cheerfully. Hinata smiled at him. "How are you, Tobi?"

Tobi put down the watering can and sat down next to her. But then he sat up and asked, "Do you want a drink or something? I'm about to go on break and get some…" He looked flustered for a moment, but she couldn't tell for sure because of his mask. She only smiled at him and shook her head. Tobi nodded and walked inside, coming back with two cups of lemonade from the café area under the stairs. The two sat in a comfortable silence, watching people pass by and sipping lemonade. It was a comfortably warm late afternoon, the sun positioned in such a way that it gave them enough shade to sit with comfort and enough sunlight for the flowers. It really was perfect.

Hinata tried smiling at the people who walked past, hoping that maybe they'd come into the shop and look around, but the people paid no mind to her. In fact, their lack of notice almost came off as rude, if it weren't for the fact that some people _did_ look in their direction, only to absently stare as they walked away, as if they saw nothing of interest. Puzzled, Hinata turned to Tobi and asked, "It's like people don't even see us!"

"They can't," Tobi said casually. Hinata just stared at him, waiting for an explanation. Tobi suddenly looked nervous and held up his hands. "S-S-Sometimes the leader d-doesn't want to… uh… d-deal with customers! Yeah! So he just – uh –"

Hinata just held a hand up to stop him. "Are you lying because Pein doesn't want me to know?" she asked him. He hung his head in defeat and said, "Yes… I always say too much, I'm sorry…" Hinata only smiled at him. "I guess… 'answers will come in due time…'" Hinata mocked Pein's voice, and Tobi laughed a little. "It's okay, Tobi. I forgive you."

Once again there was a silence, and Hinata decided to ask, "Tobi? Why do you wear your mask?"

Tobi paused to think. "I guess it's because…" Hinata listened closely. "… I want to know who I am before I show everyone. Does that make sense?" Silence again. Hinata nodded slowly. "I suppose I understand." Perhaps Tobi has had identity trouble in the past? Maybe his story was a tragic one, where he was forced into hiding and found refuge in Akatsuki. She didn't press the matter forward, since Tobi seemed a bit distanced from the subject right now.

They heard a rustling from all around them, and they saw Zetsu emerge from one of the dangling flowers above them.

"_Hinata Hyuga," _Zetsu said, guilt-ridden from earlier. Hinata smiled at him, full of wonder at the kind of creature he was. _"I'd like to apologize for what I – we – did earlier. It must have been terrifying."_ Hinata waved a hand in the air. "This place is full of surprises… I'm fine, it's okay!" she said. Zetsu sighed with relief. **"I'm sorry as well,"** the other half said. **"I have a very short and easily triggered temper and I'm still working on controlling it."** Hinata accepted the apology.

After a pause, Hinata asked, "Zetsu… how do you… do that?" Zetsu tilted his head, confused. _"Do you mean… how do I transform?"_ She nodded, and Zetsu managed a small blush. _"Oh my… No one… No one's ever asked before… of course, except for Leader."_

Zetsu grew bigger out of the flower and sat down next to them, a part of him still connected to the flower. _**"We were a lab experiment that became too powerful. We were released into the wild to do as we pleased, but we were directionless and hostile. Pein found us and together we made a small flower shop…"**_ Zetsu's voices blended perfectly, mesmerizing Hinata as she paid attention to the story. _**"We've been here ever since… Tobi helps water us now."**_

Hinata nodded, her mind wandering back to when Zetsu had first attacked her. She remembered how Zetsu just stared at her in wonder and confusion, and how she probably had the same expression on her face. "What was that look you gave me when you were about to attack me?" she asked softly. Zetsu chuckled softly. _**"We were amazed that you weren't wetting yourself, honestly…"**_ Hinata flushed, embarrassed about that possibility. Zetsu continued, _**"No one has ever just stared at us before, so we knew you were special."**_ He smiled at her and the three of them sat in a comfortable silence until sunset, when Tobi and Zetsu escorted Hinata home.

"How was your first day back?" Neji had a knowing smile on his face. Hinata smiled back at him and pulled him into a hug. "It was nice, Neji," she whispered softly, falling asleep contentedly for the first time in days.

* * *

"I almost told her, Leader." Tobi said to Pein in his office. Tobi looked at the ground and kicked the dirt. Pein looked at Tobi and said, "I suppose she'll come to us looking for an explanation, then." He sighed and turned away, lost in thought.

"All in due time, Hinata Hyuga…"

* * *

Thanks for waiting patiently!

I hope I answered your question from last time, too.


	7. The Family Akatsuki

Hinata woke up completely rested and ready for the day. Her mood definitely improved after her return to the Akatsuki, and she was grateful to those who supported her in going back. She was excited to see what sorts of things she'd encounter today.

When she arrived at the shop, Sasori greeted her happily from the registers. She waved to him and took a step forward, but suddenly a trap door opened under her, catching both her and Sasori off guard.

"H-Hinata!" he yelped as she fell through.

* * *

Of course, Hinata found herself in Pein's office. It was the same dramatics as the last time she was in here, the one light shining on Pein at his desk, etc. etc. She was mostly irritated at the fact that she was being thrown around at his leisure, especially the past two days. She didn't know if he knew, but being swallowed by a giant plant is not the most comfortable mode of travel. In fact, if he were a bit more professional, he'd have all her appropriate contact information so that only a phone call to drop by the shop would be necessary.

Before she got the chance to tell him off about his poor business practice, Pein cleared his throat to grab her attention.

"Hinata Hyuga," he said in his usual tone, "It has come to my attention that Tobi has partially and prematurely revealed to you a secret of the Akatsuki." He stared at her sternly, and she took a moment to recall this partially revealed secret. She remembered sitting at the bench with Tobi and noticing how people didn't even spare them a second glance.

"_It's like they can't even see us!"_

"_They can't."_

Pein noticed her recollection and said, "The moment Tobi told me about that conversation you two had, I knew you'd come and ask questions, so I decided to beat you to the punch. I cannot reveal to you this secret, not yet." He saw in her eyes that she was asking for a reason, so he continued, "It is crucial to your growth that we remain in a cloud of mystery until the time is right." Hinata rolled her eyes at the explanation, hearing only that "the answers will come in due time." She accepted it, though, since she knew it was all that she would be given until the time is right.

She supposed that she didn't even feel the need to know – at least, not right away. Akatsuki was a place shrouded in mystery, and she felt that even if Pein told her everything she needed to know, there would still be a million other things left unsolved.

"Well, since that's all I have to say to you, Konan will see you out."

The lady with blue hair walked into the light. She was a tall woman with the same aura of intimidation that Pein had. She seemed fairly emotionless, with a poker face that could rival Sasori's. Hinata stood up and followed her out of the office and through a door, which was an uncharacteristically normal exit - at least, for Pein.

Outside of Pein's office was a seemingly endless hallway full of random doors and turnarounds. Looking up, there was a vast expanse of darkness, with red lines moving randomly about. What were those red lines? They'd almost looked like other pathways if it weren't for the fact that they twisted and turned a million ways. Hinata followed closely behind Konan. "Stay close, Hinata… It's easy to get lost in here." Konan smiled sweetly at her, and she smiled back.

There were a bunch of sounds coming from the many doors they were passing by – whispers, groans, and animal noises. She read the door labels one by one.

_Odd Animal Containment Facility_

_Pein's childhood memories_ (Hinata noticed that this door in particular was covered in chains and locks)

_None of your business_

_CLAIRE_

_Black Hole Factory_

_Storage Closet _

The rooms were so unbelievably strange that Hinata decided to look straight ahead, at Konan.

Except, Konan wasn't there.

_Oh, oh my god. No, no no no no no no no no_ Hinata's hand moved up to cover her mouth in shock, berating herself for getting distracted. _Even after she said to stay close!_

Hinata decided to turn back and head to Pein's office, but when she turned around, there was only a door. She could have sworn that they had walked farther and farther away from the office. She took a deep breath and clutched the doorknob, slowly opening the door.

She would have stepped inside, if it weren't for the fact that she was looking down at the store from the ceiling. She could see Sasori and Kakuzu at the registers, but only the tops of their heads were visible. If she were to go through this door, she'd probably fall down the two story height of the building. It was very disorienting, so Hinata closed the door.

She walked forward a few doors ahead and opened one to her left. She saw outer space in front of her. She peeked her head into the door, amazed that she could breathe. This was really space, she realized. She tried to look at what the door was standing on, but it appeared to just be a floating door in space. Hinata smiled and closed the door, somewhat excited for the next one.

There were jungles, deserts, and all kinds of environments in many of these doors. There were also many hallways, and Hinata didn't think there was an actual end to it.

In one of the doors, however, she found something that was truly unexpected. She found a little girl with auburn hair like Pein's, clipped up with a flower that looked a lot like Konan's. Hinata could figure that this child was probably theirs. The girl was sitting alone in a big room full of toys, from stuffed animals to video games, and was currently doodling at a small table. Hinata backed up to close the door, but she accidentally stepped on a squeaky toy and grabbed the girl's attention.

The girl spun around in her chair and looked at her. She couldn't have been more than 7 years old. She got up and walked towards Hinata, who was slightly nervous. "Who are you?" The girl asked her. Hinata crouched down to the girl's level and said, "I'm Hinata Hyuga, I work with your… dad." The girl immediately smiled and tugged on Hinata's hand.

"I'm Claire, do you wanna play with me?"

Having no choice, Hinata followed Claire to the table she was drawing at. She was handed a piece of paper and a crayon, and the two began drawing together. _Oh man… I can't stay here forever, I have to find Konan…_

After a few minutes of drawing, Hinata asked, "Hey, Claire… is there… is there some way you can contact your mother for me?" Claire put down her crayon and smiled. "Sure!" She skipped over to a phone that was by her bed and picked it up, not needing to dial a number since there was no dial pad. Hinata watched as she talked on the phone.

"Hello? Mommy? My new friend wants to meet you!" she said into the phone. She began nodding while saying "Uh huh," and after a few minutes put the phone down. Then she skipped back to the table and began drawing again, Hinata a bit concerned.

"Um… What… what did she say?" she asked. Claire looked up at her and was about to say something, when the door opened. Pein and Konan were at the door, and Claire ran up to them.

"Who's your new friend, Claire?" Konan said sweetly, totally betraying Hinata's first impression of her. The two parents crouched down to hug their daughter, and Hinata saw the image of the perfect growing family. She smiled.

"Her name is… uh… Hinata… Heeoogah," Claire said with difficulty. The two parents laughed and Hinata couldn't help but giggle too. "That's nice. Howe about we all get ice cream?" Pein suggested. Konan and Claire walked out of the room, and once they were out of earshot, Pein pointed to Hinata and said, "Hinata Hyuga, you're coming too."

Nervous, Hinata nodded and followed Pein out the door, and was alarmed to find that the hallway was straightened out again. She followed the family through the corridors, amazed at how proper and orderly everything was. All the doors were still there and labeled, and Hinata saw that the door they came out of was labeled "CLAIRE."

Pein and Hinata trailed behind Konan and Claire. After a long silence, Hinata built up enough courage to say, "So… You're a family man." Pein smiled. "It would seem that way, yes." Another silence. "Isn't it bad to keep Claire cooped up in that room?" Hinata asked. Pein shook his head. "I don't know how good of a look you got of her room, but she has the safest and most open room of the entire Akatsuki compound. She has a direct phone line to Konan and I, a small panic room that leads to my office and the shop, and her own courtyard." Hinata was amazed at the detail put into Claire's room, nevermind that there didn't seem to be any room for all that stuff from the hallway. However, she knew better than to question physics when in the inner pipes of the Akatsuki shop.

"The others don't really know about her, but she is definitely a rumor that flares up amongst everyone once in a while."

"Why doesn't anyone know?"

Pein scratched the back of his head, acting uncharacteristically sheepish. "I don't… I don't want to ruin my image." Hinata's jaw dropped for a second, but she quickly saved face before Pein could look at her. _THAT'S SUCH A SUPERFICIAL AND VAIN REASON, _Hinata thought loudly. Personally, she thought that Pein could get away with anything that he deemed to be "image-ruining." He was so threatening that he could reveal that he has a child and everyone would leave him alone for fear of what he could do to them if they made fun of him. And even then, she doubted that any of the Akatsuki employees – at least, the ones she's met – would ever make fun of a father, let alone Pein as a father.

She supposed that Pein had his reasons.

They arrived at another door, labeled "Ice cream parlor." She held her breath for a moment in anticipation, somewhat excited to know that the Akatsuki had its own –

Walking through the door in the hallway was like walking into the store from the outside. It was as if they took a walk down the street and entered the building like a normal customer. How was this possible? Akatsuki is such a strange place.

It was so surreal getting ice cream – Pein's treat – and hanging out with them. Pein, Konan, and Claire looked like such a normal, happy family. It was a side of Pein that she never thought existed, let alone one that she'd be able to see. After ice cream, the four of them walked out of the ice cream parlor and back into the mysterious hallways of the Akatsuki shop.

"Mommy has to go to work now, sweetie. I'll see you tonight," Konan kissed Claire on the head and let Pein walk her back to her room, leaving Hinata and Konan to walk back to the shop. Hinata saw Konan in a completely new light, having seen her with her child. She seemed more relaxed, more laid back than emotionless.

Konan stopped in front of a door labeled "The Shop 13," and Hinata was relieved to have kept up with Konan long enough to make it back in one piece. "Why is it numbered thirteen?" Hinata asked. Konan opened the door and said, "This hallway has about 20 points of contact for the shop, half of them being each of our employee's stations and the other half in random places." The room they were in was covered in origami creations, with kiosks full of different types of origami paper.

Letting Hinata step through first, Konan said, "This is my trade."

Hinata excitedly looked around the room, taking one of the free paper samples and folding it into a crane. She showed it to Konan, who smiled. "That's very good, Hinata. Watch this," Konan lifted her hand up and all around them papers began to fly. As they ascended, they turned into cranes and flew around Hinata in a small whirlwind of origami. Hinata stared in wonder at the creations, and watched as she turned them all into flowers, bundling the all in a bouquet in Konan's hand.

Bowing a little, Konan presented the paper flowers to Hinata, who took it with a big smile. "That was amazing, Konan!" Hinata exclaimed happily. Konan smiled at her excitement and escorted her away from all the origami paper and at the top of the stairs. Hinata didn't even realize that they were on the second floor. She had never been up here, and she looked around for the first time. Hinata assumed that all the unfamiliar places belonged to the people she hasn't met yet. She looked forward to meeting all of them.

On her way down, Hinata saw Sasori at the registers again. He looked at her, relieved. "You were gone so long I was getting worried," he said. She smiled reassuringly at him. "I'm fine. It was just Pein summoning me to his office again." Sasori nodded, understanding. He bid her good night and she left the shop, Tobi and Zetsu walked her home again.

* * *

Hey, TWA here.

Claire is an OC of mine, created way back when in my earlier fics (none of which are worth reading, by the way. ((they're hard to read both because of structure and just a bunch of stuff ((The workings of a middle schooler)))

A little info on Claire, for those who haven't read my other works.

Claire was 5 when she first appeared. Her personality is frequently described as "Little hellraiser" and things like that. She causes a lot of trouble for the Akatsuki simply because she's mischievous and maybe the spawn of Satan.

But in this fic, she's a normal girl. Well, as normal as she can be while being the spawn of Akatsuki. I hope y'all don't mind the OC appearance, I just think that she gives Pein and Konan an edge.

Anyway, see you next chapter! Thanks for all your feedback and stuff! And as a note, I guess if you ask a question that has to do with plot, I won't answer it in these little author sections…

…The answer will come in due time.


	8. Obligatory Beach Episode Part 1

You guys should see my tumblr theme, it has Deidara on it…;; (link in my profile) i've lost followers to this reawakened Akatsuki obsession…;;;

* * *

Hinata woke up with a note stuck on her face. She sat up and took it off, feeling somewhat freaked out that the Akatsuki had such easy access to her room like this. The note read, "Bring Beach Stuff." She assumed that meant the Akatsuki were going to the beach today, which wasn't something normal companies do for their employees. But she knew better than to expect normalcy from them.

Even so, she packed clothes, a towel, and the swimsuit she hasn't worn in like a year. She hoped it still fit, but even if it didn't it might give her an excuse to not go swimming. She walked to work, Zetsu meeting her at the same bushes along the pathway where they first met… if rustling the bushes and stalking her on the way to work is what you consider meeting.

"_Can I carry your bags for you?"_ Zetsu offered, a vine slithering out and wrapping itself around the handle of her bag. Hinata let it go, smiling at him. "Thank you!" The bag was placed on top of the bushes and was sliding alongside her until the end of the sidewalk, where she watched it sink into the bushes and out of site, along with Zetsu. Hinata crossed the street and found her bag on the bushes again, this time Zetsu poking his head out, too.

Zetsu was staring intently at her for some reason, so Hinata decided to ask, "Are we really going to the beach?" Zetsu shrank into the bushes so that only the upper half of his face was visible. It was as if he was pouting. _"Oh… Yeah, you guys are going to the beach. _**We can't, though…"** Hinata asked him why and he said, "_There's no vegetation that we can latch onto at the beach."_ Nodding, Hinata turned her attention forward. They were approaching the shop, so Zetsu and Hinata's bag seeped into the bushes and disappeared to an unknown location. She trusted that she'd cross paths with her bag soon enough.

In fact, it was waiting for her at the register, where Sasori was half naked and wearing goggles on his head. He seemed to be rummaging through the lower cabinets under the register, looking for something. Hinata took her bag and asked Sasori what he was looking for. His head popped up and Hinata saw that Sasori had lines in between his major joints and a rather large circular thing in his chest. She couldn't help but stare, and Sasori noticed as much.

"Uh… I can explain?" Sasori shrugged and smiled a little. He had a gaping hole in his gut with a thick wire wound around inside. He had layers of himself to allow flexibility. There were veins seeping out into his chest from the round thing, that looked like it was beating like a heart.

Hinata pointed dramatically at him and said, "ROBOT."

"Close." Sasori held his index finger and thumb close together in between them. "I'm, uh, part puppet? Well, er, mostly puppet. 75%?" Sasori held his hands up defensively, then pointed to the pulsating cylinder in his chest. "This is me, really." He tapped it affectionately, glancing at Hinata for a reaction. It was as if she had stars of wonder in her eyes. He could tell she wanted to hear the story, so he absently scratched his cheek and began his tale.

"I, uh. Well, a few years ago I was declared dead. My heart, eyes, and consciousness were preserved in this jar thing and I was placed in this lab of some sort – I don't actually remember because I was, in a way, asleep – until Pein found me. It's always so strange how he stumbles upon us, y'know," Hinata stayed attentive, nodding every once in a while to urge him to continue.

"He somehow found my old house, my old basement, and all my old puppets and hobbies. He took one of them and made a makeshift body for me until I could build my own body, and now I'm here. Well, mostly here. Somewhat here." Sasori laughed awkwardly.

Hinata paused to think about it and then asked, "Do you know why he did it?"

Sasori shrugged. "Pein works in mysterious ways, Hinata." He looked at her and smiled, and she smiled back. They shared a comfortable silence while Hinata stared at his… well, his art. He was one of his own masterpieces, the most life-like he probably will ever get.

Sasori suggested that Hinata get dressed for the beach now, so she went into one of the back rooms to change. However, to her delighted dismay, the swimsuit definitely did not fit her. She reemerged and told Sasori as much, lazily waving a hand in the air and saying, "I guess I can't swi-"

"Oh dear, that's unacceptable. You simply _must_ swim at the beach, Hinata. I'll have Kakuzu make you one, then!" Sasori gestured to Kakuzu, who had an uncharacteristically flustered look on his face. Hinata looked at him, a bit confused. "How…" He wasn't going to go out and just buy her a swimsuit, right? His money was way too precious to him, wasn't it?

Kakuzu turned to them and cleared his throat. "Yes, I can make clothing and swimsuits." He looked embarrassed for a moment, but the fact that he was skilled in tailoring was amazing to Hinata, and she was very impressed. She could barely sew a button back onto a shirt without at least hurting herself in the process. She didn't think there was anything for him to be ashamed of.

"Oh, come on Kakuzu, it's not that shameful," Sasori said, waving a hand passively at him. Kakuzu dropped his head on the counter, a muffled sob coming from him. "How could I _not_ be ashamed!? The textile industry is such an expensive market, thread costs a fortune! How can I pride myself on my impeccable money managing abilities if my very _trade_ is counter-productive to my financial goals!?"

After a moment to compose himself, Kakuzu stood next to them, asking for Hinata's measurements and clothing style. She shyly wrote down her measurements, making sure to fold the paper up so that no one could see them. She didn't quite know how to answer the question about style, so she said that it was up to him. "Well, that won't do, Hinata Hyuga. You _must_ pick designs out of my selection if you have no current preference." His tone was so professional, Hinata didn't know how to respond. She glanced at Sasori, who smiled and waved them on, continuing his search for the thing he never identified.

Hinata followed Kakuzu to his section of the store, which was upstairs and to the left. Hinata saw Konan's section was in the other corner, to the right of the stairs. When the lights turned on in Kakuzu's area, Hinata saw many rare and beautiful fabrics, a lot of which Hinata was pretty sure her entire clan couldn't afford. "Kakuzu… I… I can't possibly –" Kakuzu quickly cut her off by saying, "This first one's on me," he leaned forward to murmur, "Freebies are incredibly rare, especially from me. I suggest you take it." She was sure he didn't mean to sound threatening, but he sure was scary-sounding – especially when it came to money, it seemed.

She looked at each fabric, paying attention to Kakuzu's poorly hidden expression of frustration and second thoughts. Every time she lingered on a fabric, he'd try and subtly mutter something about it being such a valuable and expensive piece, or how it was too cheap for her, or just cursing his trade in general. It was funny to see him so conflicted over it, but she eventually found a fabric that she liked, which also seemed to be within Kakuzu's price range.

He took the fabric and nodded, saying it was a fine choice. "Thank you for doing this… You don't have to rush, okay?" Hinata said. Kakuzu assured her that swimsuits were easy and quick, and he let her walk away as he got to work.

Walking down the stairs again, she saw someone enter the shop. Familiar black hair, lines on his face – it was Itachi Uchiha. Hinata sprinted down the stairs and ran up to him, grabbing him into a big hug. He laughed and winced a bit, Hinata noticing immediately. "What happened? We haven't heard from you in days, weeks almost!" she insisted urgently.

"Well, Sasuke beat me up the moment he saw me. I'm still a bit bruised, but it's nothing I can't handle." Hinata pulled Itachi further into the store, towards the coffee shop. "Tell me about how it went!" she urged, sitting them down.

Itachi sighed wistfully. "I guess they were a bit surprised," he said, making Hinata laugh. He liked making her laugh, especially now after making her sad with his absence. "All the family gathered together and we ate a big meal, and… I guess I told them where I've been and why I was gone… And I kinda stayed there for a few days. I could barely leave the house this morning, but I suppose I understand why…" Hinata nodded and began to talk to him about her recent adventures in the inner workings of the shop, Itachi smiling at her enthusiasm and wonder about the Akatsuki compound.

He knew he couldn't reveal everything to her, just as he couldn't tell his family all about the Akatsuki. Pein always kept everyone under strict secrecy because he thought it was cleaner that way. Simpler. He couldn't agree more, especially when he looked at Hinata and recalled the first time he got involved with Akatsuki as well.

Itachi stumbled upon the Akatsuki much like Hinata did. He didn't find much meaning in what he was doing, and was especially not busy during the summer. Nothing was really waiting for him at the end of summer either, when he would be forced to take on the task of inheriting the Uchiha throne. The thought of being an authority figure didn't really appeal to him as much as it did his younger brother, Sasuke. It only made sense to let him have it, but he didn't know how until he met Pein.

_Here at Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium, our gift is giving._

Behind Hinata, Itachi saw a familiar blue-skinned friend emerge from the room in the back. Itachi waved at him, unintentionally interrupting Hinata's story. She looked behind her and saw the shark man that was with Itachi when she first saw him. She saw him grin, exposing rows of pointy teeth. He had a rather terrifying appearance, but his overall presence was rather peaceful and relaxed.

"Kisame," Itachi said, standing up and engaging the shark in this odd secret handshake. Hinata had never seen Itachi so casual with another person – shark?

Itachi gestured to Hinata, who stood up and walked next to them. "This is Hinata, I'm not sure if you two have met." Kisame took Hinata's hand and shook it, his grin growing wider. "I'm Kisame. I'm a marine biologist," Kisame said. Hinata nodded, mesmerized by the intense shark-like qualities of his face alone. Kisame scratched the back of his head and said, "I'm kind of the reason why we're all going to the beach today."

_That makes sense,_ Hinata thought. They heard Kakuzu walking down the stairs above them. He walked up to them, handed her the swimsuit, and silently walked away, clearly embarrassed. The three of them looked at the swimsuit. It was light blue two-piece with white dots all over it, lined with frilly lace and a pretty ribbon in the center. The three of them turned red at the thought of her wearing it. Hinata was afraid that she couldn't fill it very well, since all the lacy and ribbon stuff wasn't her style, but she went to one of the back rooms and changed into it anyway, wearing her clothes on top of it so she could travel.

She heard a knock on the door, and Hinata opened it to find Konan standing there. "Hi, Hinata. Pein wanted me to tell you that you were assigned to help Kisame with his research." Hinata nodded slowly, not really sure how she could help. "Can you swim?" Konan asked. "In theory…" Hinata said softly. Konan looked concerned for a moment, but Hinata laughed nervously and said, "I took swimming lessons as a child, so I know the basics! It's just been a while, is all." Konan smiled and left her. Hinata wondered briefly if Claire was coming on this trip. It would be a shame if she couldn't.

Hinata walked out into the shop again, bumping into Deidara. He seemed to be packing a lot of stuff for the beach. She walked up to him and he noticed her, so he put down the small box he was carrying and waved to her. "Hey! Ready for the beach, hm?" Hinata smiled at him and looked at the couple of bags he seemed to be bringing. "Yeah, I'm ready… and it looks like you're ready too?" He saw that she was staring at his stuff, looking for an explanation.

"I'm just bringing… supplies, hmm," Deidara said, patting the box next to him. "You see, Sasori and I always have this sand castle building contest at the beach – and this time, I'm going to win, hm!" He held a thumbs up and she smiled at him. She giggled, thinking that a sand castle contest was something she could imagine them doing. "Do you need help bringing this stuff out?" she asked, picking up one of the boxes. Deidara grinned at her, accepting her help. "The van's just outside, hm – let's go!"

Hinata saw that there was a large van and a regular car parked in front of the store. She figured that Pein and Konan – and probably Claire – were going separately. Deidara and Hinata loaded the van, and on their way back inside, Hinata noticed Zetsu and Tobi hanging out on the bench. She walked up to them and smiled. Tobi was dressed for the beach, and Zetsu was just hanging from one of the flowers, chatting with him.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?"

Tobi stood up and waved at her. "Oh, I was just watering Zetsu so he wouldn't get too thirsty while we were gone…" Hinata nodded, feeling a bit sad that Zetsu wouldn't be able to go. She turned to Tobi and asked, "Can't we find a way to bring him along?" The three of them thought for a moment. Hinata recalled the moment she first encountered Zetsu, in that alleyway. He managed to make the brick walls sprout some flowers, so why couldn't he do the same at the beach? She asked them as much, and they said that the bricks in the city always have some sort of moss in them, grown from under the concrete.

Hinata looked at the potted plants along the doorway, and she had an epiphany. "What if we took one of the plants to the beach?" she asked. "Can you travel by seaweed?" she looked at Zetsu hopefully, who was smiling. "Well, not seaweed - it moves around too much for me to get a good hold on it - but what you _can_ do is trail dirt from the sidewalk plants and put the potted plant on it. That would be perfect!"

The three of them looked happy and relieved, and then Pein stepped out the door and called for everyone.

"C'mon everyone, let's go, let's go!" Pein and Konan (and a well hidden Claire) went into their own car.

Everyone else filed into the van, Kakuzu and Hidan taking the driver's and passenger seats. Kakuzu was grumbling about how this was such a waste of gas and money. "Just shut up and drive, Old man!" Hidan yelled at him.

Itachi and Kisame sat in the next row, And then Tobi held Zetsu's plant in the next one behind them. Hinata found herself pinned between Deidara and Sasori in the back seat.

"Just you wait, Sasori, I'll beat your ass this time, hm!" Deidara said, his passion burning. Sasori smirked at him. "Tch. Stupid child. You'll never beat me, even if sand doesn't last forever." Hinata laughed nervously as Deidara and Sasori stared daggers at each other.

_It's going to be a long ride..._

-:-

TWA

Wwwoooah, backstory stuff! Wowzers.

Just a little, I hope it doesn't seem too weird.

See you next chapter!


	9. Obligatory Beach Episode Part 2

I feel like I should've named these past two chapters something more sincere… uh…

* * *

The nearest beach was about half an hour's drive. Hinata was reminded of this fact while stuck in the middle of Deidara's and Sasori's glaring contest. She shifted uncomfortably and leaned forward to see how Zetsu was doing in the seat in front of her.

"_Oh, I'm fine. It's just a bit cramped in here – I'm used to having the entirety of the ground to stretch in, but now I've only got this pot." _A few flowers sprouted out of the pot and poured over the edges. Zetsu seemed to relax a bit more. _"But I can make it to the beach."_ Hinata smiled and looked at Tobi. "Are you excited for the beach?" Tobi nodded eagerly. "I haven't been to the beach in a long time, and I'm especially glad that Zetsu's coming with us!" He seemed to be smiling at Zetsu. "Usually I stay behind with Zetsu to keep him company when there's a beach trip, but this time he insisted I go. I'm glad that I don't have to leave him this time."

_They have such a cute friendship,_ Hinata thought fondly. She leaned back in her seat and listened to a bit of Deidara's and Sasori's conversation.

"I've got a few surprises up my sleeve this year, hm," Deidara grinned. "Let me guess – you're going to blow up both of our castles again," Sasori retorted, chuckling. Deidara huffed. "No! I may have learned it the hard way, hm, but I know now that it's not the greatest idea!"

Sasori leaned towards Hinata to whisper, "We've been kicked out of a few beaches because _Deidara_ started some illegal explosions." Hinata stifled a laugh, and Deidara flushed a bit with embarrassment. "Oh yeah, hm? How about all those statues of yours that got washed away by the sea? So much for eternal beauty, hm!" Sasori glared at him, and Hinata was caught in the middle again. "P… Please don't fight…" she said softly.

Sasori looked at Hinata and sighed, relaxing back into his seat and leaning his head on his arm against the window. "Let's settle this today," he grumbled. Deidara did the same, saying, "Yeah, hm. We will."

Finally, they arrived at the beach. Zetsu and Tobi were relieved to find that there were trees along the path to the actual sandy beach, and that similar vegetation could be found in little places really close to the water. The Akatsuki decided to set themselves up near one of these areas. Hinata noticed that Pein and Konan set themselves up somewhere a bit apart from them. She supposed it was for Claire's sake, but she could still somewhat see that Claire was with them. Perhaps it was these glimpses that started all these rumors that Pein talks about. She personally thought it'd be easier and more inclusive for them to just say that Claire exists, but she knew they had their own preferences and reasons for hiding Claire.

Hinata set up her towel next to Tobi and Zetsu, who looked like he was enjoying his own personal piece of the beach. From where they sat, she saw that Deidara and Sasori were already tackling the sand castle business, both of them clearly lost in their work.

Kakuzu had his umbrella put up and a small table and chair underneath it. He had a large pile of papers next to him. _Is he… Is he really doing work at the beach?_ Hinata thought, giving Kakuzu a somewhat concerned look. She also noticed that he didn't have his usual business suit attire – which should have been expected for a trip to the beach, but seeing that he brought work with him, she thought he'd have a full suit on, too. But he only had his head gear on today, which she supposed was fine. She observed that there were a bunch of stitches and scars all over his dark skin. She briefly wondered where they all came from, but another part of her felt like she didn't want to know. The members of the Akatsuki were also a big mystery, it seemed.

A bit farther away from Kakuzu was Hidan, who seemed to be busy drawing circles in the sand. However, upon further observation, he had only drawn one circle, with a triangle in it. Curious, she walked over to him and asked him what he was up to.

Hidan only glanced at her, completely focused on prayer now. She felt bad for almost interrupting him. "He's performing one of his rituals," Kakuzu said, not turning away from his work. Hinata stood next to him and watched Hidan as he kissed his necklace with the same symbol as he drew on the ground. "Um… Jashin, right?" Hinata asked softly, mesmerized by his fluid motions. Seemingly out of nowhere, he pulled out a giant spike – the same one he pulled on her the first time they met – and held it in front of him. It was worrying to see, especially since he looked like he was gonna –

"You might not want to watch this part," Kakuzu muttered. Hinata stared on anyway, and gasped loudly when Hidan rammed the spike through his abdomen, the blood running down the length of the spike and dripping onto the center of the triangle of his symbol. Blood also dribbled down his chin, and he dropped to his knees, not making a single noise of discomfort. Hinata clasped her hand over her mouth in shock. Kakuzu finally turned away from his papers to look at Hidan, and then at Hinata. He stood up and walked to her, the two of them watching Hidan lay himself on his back with the spike still in his center. He seemed to be bleeding out into the sand.

Kakuzu let out a heavy sigh, saying, "Honestly, Hidan, _children_ play here. Can't you drip somewhere else? Like _nowhere near me?_" Hinata looked up at him, her eyes wide with worry. "I-I-Is he going to be okay!?" She demanded. Kakuzu let out a deep chuckle, surprising Hinata. "He'll be fine, I promise. He always does this," he said casually. Seeing that Hinata still seemed scared and worried, he added, "Jashin is a god that requires blood sacrifice daily. Hidan never misses a ritual because he never dies." Hinata was amazed. Immortality? Was it the sacrifices that made him immortal or was he born that way? Is he older than he looked? She had so many questions that she knew weren't going to be answered anytime soon. "You have to be nothing less than immortal to worship Jashin," Kakuzu said.

When Hidan finished his ritual, Hinata saw that his open abdomen was wide open. He walked up to them, grinning. "Aah, damn, that was so refreshing," Hidan scratched the back of his head and stretched. Hinata tried to ignore that he was still kind of bleeding. "I can't believe you brought work to the _beach_, 'kuzu. You're supposed to _relax…"_ Hidan noticed that Hinata was staring at him. He smiled at her. "Eeey, well if it isn't the famous Hinata Hyuga. Did you enjoy the ritual? Would you like to try it with me sometime?"

Hinata was frozen, staring at the pool of blood that was forming under him from his very, _very_ open wound. Kakuzu sighed. "Hey, watch it, Hidan. You'll get blood all over us." He held out his arm, and Hinata found another thing to stare at. From one of the stitches on his arm, a thick thread slithered out of him and pinned itself into the hole in Hidan's chest. It began stitching it up, weaving its way through Hidan's skin. Kakuzu noticed Hinata's staring and laughed a little. "I'm really surprised you're not grossed out right now, Hinata." In his interruption of focus, Kakuzu accidentally poked Hidan in an unnecessary place. Hidan cursed loudly. "Fuckin' hell, Kakuzu! You can't just look away while you're fuckin sewing someone back together!"

Hinata thought she could take it, but the strong smell of blood and all the stitching was starting to make her nauseous. She stepped back from them for a moment to take deep breaths of fresher air. Kakuzu glanced back at her, Hidan cursing at him for poking him again. When he was done, Kakuzu and Hidan walked up to her to see if she was okay.

"Oh yeah, I'm… I'm totally fi –" Hinata suddenly buckled over and vomited. Hidan cheered, throwing his arms up, but Kakuzu hit him in the chest – almost where the gaping hole once was – and demanded that he get some water for her. Hidan left and Kakuzu patted Hinata's back. "Hey, you okay? Sorry if that was too much – Hidan's usually too much in general." Hinata shook her head and laughed a little. "Gosh, that was just…" she started, pausing to spit out some sour saliva. "… I just didn't wake up this morning expecting to see that…'" Hidan came back with a bottle of water and handed it to her, then patted her back and laughed loudly.

"That was sick, Hina," Hidan laughed. Kakuzu hit him in the head this time. "Yeah, sick of your stupid shit, Hidan," he retorted. Hinata drank the water and laughed at their antics. She hoped they didn't argue all the time, but she could sort of tell they worked well together.

Behind Hidan and Kakuzu she saw Itachi and Kisame walk up to her. They saw all the blood and some of the barf on the ground, next to Hidan and Kakuzu's bickering. "Did we come at a bad time?" Itachi asked awkwardly. Kisame laughed loudly at the scene. "Boy, do I wanna know what happened here," he said. Hinata flushed with embarrassment at the fact that she threw up. She explained that Hidan was doing one of his… rituals… and that she couldn't handle all the blood. This time, both Kisame and Itachi laughed, not meaning to laugh at her, but making it feel that way anyway.

When they recovered, Kisame put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Oh my goodness… You'd better get used to that if you're gonna stick around here, Hinata." She gave an exasperated sigh and took another sip of water. Kisame looked out to the ocean and said, "Are you ready to help me collect data, Hinata? Or do you need more time to recover from…" He gestured slightly to the vomit on the ground behind her, but she shook her head, eager to get away from this mess.

Hinata stopped by the nearby bath house to clean herself up a little and to change out of her street clothes. She draped this cute cloth around her waist – one that she bought years ago – and stepped out. She was somewhat relieved that no one else saw her only in her bathing suit – she didn't think she could handle all the attention. She'd just show Kakuzu how it looked later. To be honest, she felt really good in the new swimsuit – it wasn't at all ill-fitting and it made her feel hot.

She found Itachi and Kisame just outside the entrance. "Hey! You look good!" Kisame said, grinning. Hinata blushed and looked at Itachi, who verbally agreed. Hinata followed Kisame down to the beach, Itachi not far behind them. "Itachi's going to help us out, too," Kisame said. They walked along the shore silently for a few minutes before Hinata asked, "Um… how are we, uh, doing this?"

They stopped in front of these huge rocks, and Kisame began climbing them like it was as easy as breathing. Itachi began to follow him, but noticed Hinata's hesitation. He let Kisame go ahead of them and jumped down to Hinata, who seemed to be frightened of the height and the climb. "Hey, Hinata? You don't have to come with us if you –" Hinata shook her head vigorously. "N-No! I… I can do this!" She grabbed onto the rock and jumped up, but slid down pathetically. Itachi tried and failed to hold back a laugh.

What ended up happening was Kisame discovering that they fell behind and going back. He assessed the situation and made Hinata hold on to him as he climbed up, Itachi following them. Even with her on his back, he seemed to be able to climb the rocks with relative ease. Hinata could feel that he was very muscular, but also somewhat… scaly?

"Hey, Kisame…" Hinata began. "Hmm?" he murmured curiously. "Why… uh…" Hinata didn't know how to phrase this question, but he seemed to already know it. "Why am I part shark?" he said for her. She nodded – not that he could see that she did, but he answered anyway. "Well, I was a bit crazy in my college years… I got a lot of body modifications and got kind of addicted to it," he paused to take a breath, "And it didn't really help that I was studying marine biology at the time. I was kind of addicted to that as well."

They were nearing the top of the many rocks. Hinata could see that there was a whole other side of the beach that no one has really touched yet. – in fact, it was off-limits to the public. She felt a bit nervous, seeing that sign and walking past it. Itachi saw her concern and said, "It's a sign, not a cop." That didn't really calm her down, but she followed them anyway.

"First, I got the gills on my face – I can't breathe through them, and I kind of realize now how ridiculous it is for me to have a nose _and_ gills on the same face, but y'know. I still look like I could kill someone," Kisame continued, chuckling. The three of them stopped at a sort of cliff, stopping to admire the scenery.

"I got kicked out of college because of how I looked, even though I was on a full ride and helping with important research on a newly discovered sea creature," Kisame said, sighing at the memory. Hinata looked at him. He had a distant look in his eye for a moment, but Itachi put a hand on his shoulder. The two looked at each other, and then they grinned. Hinata smiled when they smiled, and suddenly Kisame jumped from the cliff and dove into the water.

Hinata yelped, reaching an arm out to him as a reflex. She felt Itachi grab her hand, and she looked at him, worried. "Ready?" he asked, smiling a little. Hinata didn't know what to say, but suddenly they were running and jumping down from the cliff and into the water as well. The water was cold, but somewhat refreshing. Hinata could somehow use her Byakugan to help her see in the water, and she saw that Itachi had the Sharingan. Kisame… Well, it looked like he was enough of a shark to see underwater without much problem.

They swam up for a breath and then followed Kisame outwards. It was beautiful underwater. She couldn't keep up with the two of them on her own, so she held onto Itachi's arm as they swam. There were a lot of colorful fish, and they especially felt comfortable around Kisame. Itachi and Hinata looked at him from afar, mostly enjoying that Kisame looked incredibly happy.

She wasn't sure what the research was exactly, but they somehow made their way back to the shore that was off-limits to the public. The three of them walked along it, Hinata picking up seashells and pretty rocks. They were gone for about two hours, and Hinata was carried over the cliff of rocks again and onto the other side, back to where the rest of the Akatsuki were.

They were quite alarmed to see that there was a sand castle robot fight going on. Sasori and Deidara had really gone overboard this time. It hadn't yet reached the point where they were terrorizing the other beach goers, but some of them were leaving the premises out of fear.

"I'll get you, hm!" They heard Deidara yell.

"We'll see about that, naïve little boy!" Sasori yelled back.

Itachi and Kisame joined Hidan and Kakuzu at their front row seats to the show, but Hinata stayed back to look for Pein and Konan. She found them down by the water, looking like they were having the time of their lives. She and Pein made eye contact briefly, and she waved at him, but decided not to disturb them. It was probably rare that they got to spend time alone as a family.

There was a rather large boom, and Hinata turned to see that Deidara had blown up both his own and Sasori's sand castle robots. She laughed at Sasori's moment of devastation before he composed himself. Deidara had also caught that moment of utter defeat on Sasori's face and was grinning ear to ear.

The destroyed sand robots created a sort of bonfire pit, and when it began to get dark everyone gathered around it. Hinata sat next to Deidara, who kept grinning. Next to him, Sasori sat with his head in his hands. This was the most expressive she's seen him since their time making puppets – she was somewhat sorry it had to be like this. But the happiness on Deidara's face was priceless. He probably didn't win against Sasori too often.

Deidara reached behind him and held a box, the content of which he dumped in front of him. Hinata saw that they were a bunch of fireworks, and she was suddenly filled with excitement. Deidara saw how her face brightened up and blushed a bit – she looked so good when she was smiling. He smiled at her and set up the fireworks so that they could light up the sky constantly, and one by one he set them off.

Hinata sighed, admiring the wonderful sight in the sky. She thought back on the day and was glad that Kakuzu insisted on making her that swimsuit, and she was glad that she went to the beach with all these extraordinary people. Sasori and Deidara walked up next to her and smiled.

_I was meant to be here,_ Hinata thought, as she felt Deidara and Sasori slip their hands in hers. The three of them looked on at the fireworks.

* * *

TWA

Confession: I have no fucking clue how the Sharingan and Bykugan work. I mean, I know basics, but none that I could write about that could explain seeing underwater. I didn't want it to be them just having their eyes open in saltwater because that's grody as fuck;;;

And yeah, I hope that wasn't too cheesy or anything. I just really like writing about the Akatsuki oh my goodness;;; and I forgot to write more about Tobi and Zetsu… I'll try to make up for it soon!

Also, updates might be a bit slower because I'm going to Canada… but I know I'll be able to work on it, little by little.

See you next chapter!


	10. Sincerity

Deidara woke the next morning feeling odd. It felt like something was missing, or like a piece of his art was left on the shelf for too long. He sat up and looked around his room – everything was as it should be, as he left it the night before. So why couldn't he shake this feeling? He swung his legs over the side of his bed and turned on the lamp on his nightstand. He stared at his open palms, the tongues of his hand-mouths waving themselves around as they usually did at their earliest convenience. When he closed his hands, the tongues stopped.

As a habit, Deidara wandered over to his worktable and began sculpting. He wasn't really aiming to create anything specific, so he just kept poking and prodding the clay. After a few minutes he saw that he made a heart. An image of our dear Hinata Hyuga popped up in his mind, and he blushed a little. He shook his head and threw the heart behind him, where it disappeared in a small explosion. He aimlessly sculpted again and it produced the loose image of our favorite Hyuga again. Deidara didn't have the heart to make it explode, so he kept morphing it into a somewhat cartoonish version of Hinata and set it aside.

He stared at it for a while, thinking fondly of the night at the beach and of how holding Hinata's hand felt so natural. It was very comforting to him, and he absolutely adored how Hinata seemed to be the only person to actually understand the beauty of impermanence. Everyone else either didn't understand or didn't care.

Well, Pein seemed to care aa bit at one point, actually.

* * *

Before Akatsuki, Deidara was the laughing stock of his town. No one believed in him and his art. They kept telling him things like, "You'll never go far with that art of yours," or, "You destroyed my fucking garden, I'll kill you!" He supposed his art was too progressive for his small village. Did nobody understand that their lives were as fleeting as his art? That the most beautiful things in life, the sky, flowers, their lovers, would all come to an end one day? The very earth they stand on will one day be destroyed, eaten up by the sun or blown up by an alien race or something – whatever it was, he was sure the earth would go out with a bang.

He remembered how he stumbled upon the Akatsuki shop – he was being chased by this guy whose cabbage stand he accidentally destroyed, and in a desperate attempt to escape he entered the nearest shop and closed the door. It seemed to do the trick, but where was he now? The building he was in seemed dark and empty. The back of the building seemed to be a void of darkness.

"_**Who goes there!?"**_ A voice boomed from above. Startled, Deidara pressed himself against the doors, a tall man with auburn hair appearing before him. The man had the most intense eyes he had ever seen, with rings all around his pupils. He had an impossible amount of piercings. The man looked him up and down and then smiled.

"Ah, yes, I've been expecting you. Come in, come in." The man led him towards the darker parts of the store, a little to the right of them. Deidara didn't know why he followed him. It was all so strange, but also mesmerizing.

"Deidara, right?" The man asked. Deidara was surprised he knew his name. "You've… You've heard of me, hm?" The man nodded. "I'm a big fan of your art, Deidara," he said.

Deidara felt his heart jump. A fan? An actual fan?

The man turned on the light above them, revealing a small studio. He saw tall stacks of clay – the kind of clay that he used for his art. "What is this, hm?" Deidara asked, amazed at how much there was. "Deidara," the man started, "I want to hire you as an artist for my shop." Deidara couldn't believe what he was hearing. After a lifetime of ridicule and hate, someone was hiring him as… as… an artist? He couldn't believe it, not at all. He held himself back from expecting too much because he didn't think he had it in him to take another rejection, especially from something like this.

"I… I don't know, hm…" It was safer to just not expect anything. It just brought on disappointment and pain. And loneliness. No one would ever love his art except for him, and it was hard enough to accept that. Deidara grit his teeth. How dare this man go to such lengths to disappoint him like this? He was sick of it. He could feel one of his hand mouths forming another clay bomb, just to blow this place to hell. This was the last straw.

The man held out his hand. "Deidara. I love your art. We need you here."

Deidara looked into the man's eyes and only saw sincerity, a sincerity he had been looking for in people since he was a child. Is this what acceptance felt like? Deidara slowly held the man's hand, and he shook it firmly.

Of course, Deidara forgot about the bomb he had made, and it blew up in one of his tinier explosions. It covered the two of them in soot and left a strong smell of gunpowder and smoke. Deidara yelped an apology, frantically dusting off the man's shirt. He began laughing a deep hearty laugh that Deidara wasn't expecting at all.

"Welcome to Akatsuki, Deidara. My name is Pein."

* * *

Deidara smiled at the memory. He was always grateful to Pein for that day, and he was so glad that he didn't actually kill him. Nowadays, he didn't think he could have killed him if he tried.

Someone knocked on the door to his room and then opened it themselves. It was Pein. "Hey, Deidara. Can you escort Hinata to work today? I'm having Tobi and Zetsu do something else for me today." Again, Hinata was brought to the front of his mind. "Here's her address. It's somewhat close by, just a few blocks down the street, and then to the left some." Pein handed him a piece of paper and a small hand drawn map of the area. Deidara nodded.

Pein smiled at him and left, somehow disappearing just as he passed the door.

This would be the first time in a while that he's taken a walk outside the store. He'd never been around Konoha before, either. Was he supposed to wear something special? His usual work clothes were just a long-sleeved shirt, pants, and an apron to protect some of it from his work – which it didn't do a very good job of anyway. So he was always covered in dust and clay. Deidara opened his closet and looked around. He wasn't much for dressing up one his days off, either. Did he even get days off? Either way, his wardrobe was lacking.

He spotted a simple white dress shirt and a navy blue cardigan in the far left side of the closet. He took them out and dusted them off. Was it too fancy? Compared to his usual, literally anything would be fancy, so maybe it was normal wear in the outside world? Shrugging, Deidara put on the clothes and dug out his casual khaki pants and looked at himself in his dirty and dusty mirror. He looked good, at least.

Stepping out of his room, he saw Sasori at the registers, looking very bored as he flipped through the inventory book. Sasori looked up at him and smirked. "Where are _you_ going, dressed up like that?" he asked. Deidara huffed. "I'm picking up Hinata today, hm, if you must know." Sasori chuckled. "Oh? Aren't you a bit dressed up for a ten minute walk to and from Hinata's house?" Deidara suppressed his flush of embarrassment. "No! You just never see me in anything other than my work clothes, hm." With that, he walked out of the store, not letting Sasori's comments bother him.

Sasori watched him leave and sighed, "Ah, young love. Isn't it silly, Kakuzu?" Kakuzu put down his pen for a moment and looked at him. "Is that what it is? I thought Deidara just looked that goofy all the time," he said. Sasori rested his chin on his hand and laughed. "Oh, he does. I just know him well enough to know what's up," he said.

Kakuzu by now had turned back to his work. "I always thought you had a thing for Hinata, Sasori," he commented, his tone saying that he didn't actually care. Sasori shrugged. "Y'know, she's cute and all, and there's no doubt that she's precious, but…" he trailed off in thought. "But?" Kakuzu grunted, marking something off on the paper he was looking at.

Sasori sat there, finally taking a moment to sort out these things he's been feeling. It had been a while since he'd felt anything other than irritation and indifference. When Hinata arrived, however, he had started to feel other things – excitement, contentment – things he thought had been lost in translation from person to puppet. He was grateful to her for that. Without her he'd have lived life forever with only irritation and probably more hate than was healthy in a heart.

Hinata was much more than he thought she realized. She meant much more to the Akatsuki than she would ever know.

Sasori leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. He didn't know how he felt about Hinata, exactly. But it's been a while since he's confused himself with his own emotions anyway. He welcomed the challenge.

* * *

Hinata woke up feeling refreshed, happily recalling the fun time she had with the Akatsuki last night. It had been a while since she'd felt that happy. She got out of bed and dressed herself for work. She was feeling so good today that she decided to wear one of her cute dresses, one that she just couldn't find an occasion for. Being happy was as good a reason as any, she thought.

However, her mood was brought back down to earth when she opened the door to her room to find her father, Hiashi, standing there. Her heart sank immediately. He never made any room visits unless he wanted to scold her. What had she done this time? She was making a point to stay out of his way this summer so that she would seem productive, so that he wouldn't see her as lazy or useless as he had always viewed her.

"Hinata, there is something important I need to discuss with you," her father said sternly. Hinata backed out of his way so that they could enter her room. They stood in front of each other, and she felt her stomach clench up. She barely made eye contact, feeling guilty already for whatever he was going to tell her.

Hiashi was staring her down, waiting a moment before speaking. "A few of our family members saw you at the beach yesterday," he said, noticing the nervousness in her eyes. "You were surrounded by other men. What sort of things does that say about you, Hinata? About our clan?" Hinata looked down, feeling tears burning in her eyes. "Explain yourself!" He demanded of her, making her wince and the tears begin to fall.

"I… Those… They were –"

"Stop stuttering, Hinata, you know how I hate that."

Hinata gulped, straightening herself with great effort. She looked him in the eyes and took a few deep breaths. "They were… my coworkers," she said softly. Hiashi stared at her, every second draining Hinata more and more. "Coworkers? At the beach? Hinata, who is going to believe that?" She shrugged, looking away from him for a moment. He demanded she keep eye contact, so she did.

"Your behavior is disgraceful. Hanabi wouldn't be at the beach with her… her _boyfriends _like a _whore_ ," Hinata looked downwards. "Please refrain from such shameful public behavior, Hinata. You bring shame to the Hyuga clan." With that, Hiashi left her room, and Hinata fell to the floor to wipe her tears away. She always felt worthless in front of her dad. Her greatest accomplishments weren't anything special in his eyes. Was she ever going to be worthy to him?

Having no choice, she continued with her day, still looking forward to spending time with the people who made her feel like she could do anything.

* * *

Deidara tugged at his blue cardigan, wondering if it was too much. He took it off and folded up his dress shirt's sleeves, feeling a lot better and more relaxed. He found Hinata's house with relative ease, but before he could walk up to the gate he saw Hinata in her room, getting yelled at by someone – her dad, probably. It wasn't any of his business, but it didn't sit right with him to see her look so helpless, so scared. He wanted to barge in there and beat up the guy who was taking that smile away from the world for even a moment.

Before he could take a step in that direction, however, it was over. The man left her, and Hinata stayed in her room for a few moments. Deidara turned away from the window to wait by the gate, to wait for her to be ready to come out. He heard the door open, and Hinata stepped out. Deidara turned to smile at her, but stopped when he saw Hinata's father at the window, giving him a look. Without a pause, Deidara stared back until Hinata stood in front of him.

"No Tobi and Zetsu today?" she asked curiously. Deidara looked in her eyes for a long moment, making Hinata blush and look away. "Um… Why are you staring…?" She was self-conscious of her eyes, which were probably a bit puffy from crying earlier. She didn't want to worry him, especially since her family stuff wasn't anyone else's problem but hers. It'd be selfish of her to bring her friends into it.

Deidara saw how fragile she was, so he slowly reached his hand out and touched her arm. She looked up to him as he slipped his hand in hers. She turned red again, still self-conscious. Deidara opened the gate so that she could walk through, and he glanced back at Hiashi to stick his tongue out at him. Hiashi shook his head and walked back into the house. Hinata looked back to see what Deidara was staring at, but she didn't see anything.

"You look cute today, hm," Deidara said, draping an arm around her shoulders. Hinata stayed silent, nodding a bit and flushing a bit more red. Why was she blushing so much? The entire thing with her dad completely threw her off her game, and now she felt awkward in everything. She hated how easily her mood was affected by others.

They stopped walking when they were in front of the store. Hinata took a deep breath. She didn't look ready to face people quite yet. Deidara removed his hand from around her shoulders and down to her hand again. He didn't want her to feel sad. He reached for one of Zetsu's flowers and plucked it out, tucking it behind Hinata's ear. She looked up him, smiling a little. He smiled back at her. "Hey, let's skip work today, hm?"

Hinata wanted to protest, but the look in his eyes was eager and excited. She could tell that she wasn't fooling either of them, and after that tiff with her dad, she could use a bit of recharging time. She nodded and accepted the hand that Deidara held out for her to hold. "I haven't explored Konoha yet, hm. Do you wanna show me around?"

They got ice cream and walked down the streets. Deidara paid for them, since Hinata didn't actually have a salary. Well, it wasn't like he was rolling in Akatsuki's dough, but he wanted to treat her. Holding hands with her felt so perfect. He glanced at her and saw that she still looked a bit down from what happened at her house. He squeezed her hand to get her attention.

"Hey," he began, "Parents are tough, hm. My parents were hard on me, too." They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, and he saw Hinata shed a tear. He kept smiling at her, and she began to cry more. Deidara pulled her into a hug and pressed his cheek to the top of her head. They stayed like that for a while, forgetting about the ice cream that was melting in their hands. When they pulled away from each other, they laughed at their ice cream covered hands and wrapped an arm around each other's waists and continued walking down the street.

For the next few hours, the two of them played in the park, ate lunch at the closest ramen shop, and took the long way home to talk about little things.

Deidara was able to see the smile of hers that he loved so much.

* * *

TWA

In which the strongly hinted-at love triangle presents itself.

Yeah, I hope it isn't moving too quickly… or too slowly… aaahhh it's been a while…. Weeh. Here we go!


	11. On Love

Thanks for your reviews! Keeps me in check! Y'all are so involved, it inflates my ego… haha

* * *

It was about noon when Deidara and Hinata found their way back to the Akatsuki. They walked into the building, laughing and chatting until they saw Pein standing before them on the counter, arms crossed.

"**Where have you two **_**been?**_**" ** he demanded.

"J… Just… hanging out, hm," Deidara stammered, hands up in the air defensively. Hinata stood her ground. Pein observed this and said, "Hinata Hyuga and Deidara, I assign you to cleaning duty."

What he meant, of course, was that everyone was cleaning today, since the store was getting dusty, especially after their return from the beach – what with people trailing sand everywhere with little regard to cleanliness. As usual, the annoying jobs were given to Deidara and Hinata as punishment. It was okay, though, since the two had become used to getting each other into trouble.

As they were sweeping the floor around the staircase, Hinata walked to Deidara and said, "Hey… thanks for cheering me up earlier." Deidara looked at her and smiled. "It was fun, hm. Just keep smiling, okay?" He reached out and ruffled her hair, making her laugh, and then they went back to work.

Sasori was glancing at them periodically as he wiped down the counters. He couldn't stop thinking about this whole "feelings" concept that he and Kakuzu were talking about earlier. He didn't want to admit that he was obsessed with it, but he kind of was. It was like he was bored his entire puppet life before now. Like he was sitting in an empty room for a while until someone threw a toy at him. He had no idea where to begin.

When he was done wiping the counters, Sasori sat in a chair. He spun around to look at Kakuzu, who wasn't doing any cleaning, but was of course sorting through paperwork. "Hey, Kakuzu," Sasori began. Kakuzu grunted for him to continue, not looking away from his work. "What's it like? Y'know, to, uh… _feel_… things…" Kakuzu turned from his work for a moment to give Sasori a look. "That's a bit vague, don't you think?" he said, the smallest hint of irritation in his voice. He had little patience for nonsense, it seemed.

After a moment to phrase his question, Sasori asked, "Well, I've been thinking a lot about… about, like, feelings. And people. Like, how do you know what emotion you're feeling? How do you know if you're in love, Kakuzu?" He looked at the banker, who paused his work to think. Sasori felt a bit self-conscious of his curiosity, so he rambled on about how he was a puppet, y'know, and how some sensations were lost in translation and whatnot.

"I knew it," Kakuzu said, a smirk in his voice, "You have a thing for her after all. I didn't know you had it in you." Sasori would have blushed if he were able. He began to feel irritated, which always seemed to be his fallback emotion, the one he understood and therefore chose to feel most of the time. He also felt a bit embarrassed, though it was difficult to admit. How could Sasori, the intelligent, calm and composed, not know a thing about emotions? Why would he even admit to not knowing something like this?

Kakuzu leaned back in his chair, making it squeak – it was the only sound between them for a bit. "I was in love once, too. A long, long time ago." Sasori leaned back in his chair too, emitting the same squeaking noise, and listened closely to Kakuzu. He seemed to have a faraway look in his eyes as he was remembering his past.

"Yeah, there was a time before Akatsuki – before money, even – that captured my attention," Kakuzu began. "I've long since forgotten her name, but the way I was around her – you wouldn't recognize me at all."

Kakuzu told Sasori that he met the girl when he was very young – in his early twenties. She was beautiful and elegant, so much more than he was. At the time, he had his own little textile shop, and the first time they met was when she walked in as a customer. He was immediately infatuated with her, and of course he did everything he could to get to know her. He'd make dresses for her and she looked beautiful in all of them.

"Okay, but how did you _feel?_" Sasori asked. Kakuzu thought for a moment. "With her, I felt… Gosh, what did I feel? I felt light. Like I could fly. It's crazy, all that love shit," he chuckled. It was rare to see Kakuzu so… so normal. He looked happy to remember such a time in his life, even though it seemed like it didn't last.

Which was another thing that puzzled Sasori a lot. How could something so large and profound, so insanely beautiful be so… so fleeting? How could it _not_ last forever?

Sasori walked around the shop a bit to clear his head. He decided to look through the library section, to see if there were any books that could explain it to him. He took out a book and flipped through it lazily, not really interested. Love didn't seem like a concept that could be taught in books.

"Whatchu got there, 'sori?" Hidan asked, visible through the place where the book was. Sasori shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just a book." With Hidan's extensive knowledge on the bookshelves, he knew exactly what book Sasori was looking at. If Sasori bothered to pay attention to the book, he'd find that it's a large handwritten tome of love stories, true love stories that end in a million different ways. There was no title on the book, but there was an illustration of a human heart on it. Hidan looked at Sasori curiously.

"You wanna know what love is, Sasori?" Hidan asked. Sasori just looked at him. "Love is sacrifice. It's painful and scarring and the best thing you'll ever feel in your life – next to sex, that is –" at this, Hidan laughed, "It's me stabbing myself in the gut every day, grateful that I get to live another day by the divine graces of Jashin." Hidan took a moment to kiss the pendant around his neck. "You love Jashin?" Sasori asked. Hidan smiled – genuinely smiled, instead of his usual smirk. "Jashin loves me, my man. Jashin wants me to be the best I can be and I reciprocate His love the only way I can –" For a moment, Hidan's skin turned black with white markings, but then turned back.

Sasori nodded to him, processing what he said. They parted silently, Sasori putting the book back in its place. Love sounded painful, according to Hidan. Why would you want pain to be eternal? Or to be repeated?

He walked around the shop and found Itachi at the coffee place under the stairs. Itachi saw him approaching and offered him the seat across from him. "What's up, Sasori? You look lost," he commented, sipping his coffee. Sasori sighed and rested his head on his propped up arm. "I'm confused," he said softly. "Well that's a first. What's confusing to the great Sasori?" Itachi chuckled softly. "Feelings. Emotions… Love," Sasori heaved another sigh, closing his eyes. Itachi stayed silent.

"Love… huh?" There was a pause for the two to think. "It's not like you to inquire about these sort of things, Sasori," Itachi said softly. Sasori grumbled, dropping his forehead on the table. "Well, do you want to hear what I have to say about it?" Itachi offered, taking Sasori's muffled grumble as a yes.

He took a deep breath, a familiar fondness in his eyes that he saw in Kakuzu and probably Hidan, if you looked past the manic look in his eyes. Itachi smiled and began, "Love is… It's like coming home after a long time of being away. It's being forgiven…" Sasori was so preoccupied by the look in Itachi's face. He supposed that this definition of love made sense, because it sounded like he loved his family a lot, and they loved him as well. It must have been an eventful homecoming for him.

"Why do you stay here with us if you have a family that loves and accepts you at home?" he asked. Itachi smiled. "Because I have a family that loves and accepts me here, too," he said. He took another sip of tea, and Sasori got up to leave. He thanked Itachi for the insight and wandered back to the registers. He sat down and sighed. He looked at Hinata and Deidara again, who were now at the front of the store, scrubbing the windows. They looked like they were having a contest on who could get them cleaner, and Hinata seemed to be winning, to Deidara's dismay. Perhaps that kind of stuff just came naturally to them.

"How's your soul searching?" Kakuzu asked in a bored tone. Sasori sighed, and then got up to walk to his section of the store. He absently ran his hand over the many dolls and puppets that he's made and sighed. He hated that he was having such a crisis with all this love mumbo jumbo. Sasori dragged himself to his bed and lay there, closing his eyes. He was never really one for sleep, but he knew he could do it if he tried. He closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on slowing his breathing to a pace appropriate for sleep. Eventually he did fall asleep, with great effort.

However, his slumber was short-lived, for suddenly his bed jerked itself up, then tilted to the side, dumping Sasori into a trap door. He didn't scream, but he was surprised. Then he felt irritated again, because it took so much to fall asleep, only to have it interrupted by –

"**Sleeping on the job, Sasori!?"** Pein's voice boomed from all directions as Sasori landed very sloppily on an armchair. He wondered if Hinata landed this gracefully whenever Pein did this to her. Pein's usual dramatics ensued, and Sasori righted himself on the chair to look at him. "I see you've been doing a bit of soul searching, Sasori," Pein said, leaning forward at his illuminated desk. Sasori rolled his eyes. Of course Pein heard about it.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't throw me around like a ragdoll, Leader," Sasori grumbled. Pein ignored his comment and said, "What's all the fuss? Why so glum, Sasori? It's very rare that you fall asleep."

_If you know it's a rare thing, why did you interrupt it without hesitation?_ Sasori thought bitterly.

"Why am I here, Pein?" Sasori asked in a bored tone.

Pein looked delightfully surprised when Sasori used his name for once. "You tell me, my dearest Sasori," he said, staying silent to allow conversation. Sasori shook his head, looking down at the ground, which didn't seem to be there since it was so dark. After a few minutes of internal debate, Sasori decided to just ask.

"Leader… everyone seems to have a different definition of love. It's been a while since I've been able to feel things, so I don't know what to believe."

Pein smiled a little. "Well, Sasori, everyone is different. So is love." He stretched and leaned forward. "You and I aren't all that different when it comes to love, Sasori." Sasori didn't say anything. He studied Pein's face to see if he was being facetious, but he found that he was being genuine. "The others… they've found love in other ways. The two of us, Sasori – we've found love in a person. Not a group of people, not in a deity, not in someone from long ago. But a person that's here, right now, in front of us."

Sasori looked at him, expressionless, but curious. Pein continued, "No matter what bullshit this stupid organization throws at me, all I have to do is look at her, and everything makes sense. No matter what evil I see in the world, whatever hatred and sadness I see in the world, seeing her reminds me of everything that's good." The ever-present faraway look that Sasori observed in so many others was in Pein's eyes. "What do you see when you see her, Sasori?"

After a moment's pause, the chair Sasori was sitting in suddenly ejected him out of the room. Sasori was sent flying, and then thrown into a sort of tube that spiraled him towards a bright light. When he exited the tube, he found that he was on the ground right outside the Akatsuki shop. Tobi and Zetsu gave him a strange look at first, but they helped him up anyway.

"Are you okay, Sasori?" Tobi asked, concerned. Sasori dusted himself off and looked at him. He looked around at the bright and sunny day, until his eyes rested on Hinata, who was watering the plants just inside. She looked out at them and made eye contact with Sasori and then smiled, waving at him. Sasori waved back.

Without turning away from her, Sasori asked, "Tobi, do you know what love is?"

Tobi looked at him, and then followed his gaze to look at Hinata. He smiled under his mask.

"No, I suppose I don't know what love is," he answered after a minute. Zetsu popped out of one of the plants above them. _"I think love is like the sun warming you up after a long winter. It's cold for a while but then it gets really, really warm."_ Tobi nodded, then looked at Sasori.

"Love isn't really about knowing, I think," Tobi said. "It's just something that… Something that helps you grow. Something that makes you… more _you._"

Sasori continued to stare at Hinata, and all his worries about love began to melt away. Nothing about love made sense, but it did when she was there.

* * *

"_It's like you become more you, but now it's okay.  
Because that person chose to take that all on.  
All that weird stuff, whatever's wrong or bad or hiding in you.  
Suddenly, it's all right.  
You don't feel like such a freak anymore."  
-Suzanne Warren, Orange is the New Black_

* * *

TWA

((coughs)) I love OITNB

Yeah, love love love. I felt so cheesy writing this chapter. I got a lot of stuff from this chapter looking through my love tag on my blog, so. Yeah, sorry if it's kinda… weh. Cheesy, lame, whatever.

We could all do a bit of soul searching.


	12. Laughter Lines

Sorry for the late update! I've been driving in the Canadian Rockies with no wifi whatsoever… So I just gave you one and half more chapter than I usually would.

Trigger warnings – throwing up… a lot of it

(I just realized that I should be putting up trigger warnings but y'know. You can PM me if you think it's important I put up TWs on previous chapters, and tell me what to tag! Thank you!)

Enjoy!

* * *

Neji and Hinata were sitting on the couch in the living room, finishing up their third horror movie that evening. Neji shut off the TV, as they had for each movie, and leaned back onto the couch, letting out an exasperated sigh. In these past four or five hours, Hinata had gone to throw up about twice per movie. She looked like hell, her hair tied up in a messy bun and her eyes watery from all the vomiting. Her stomach hurt.

"Hinata, tell me again why you wanted to catch the SAW movie marathon tonight?" Neji demanded of her tiredly. Hinata shook her head. She didn't know how to tell him that she worked with a guy who stabs himself as a form of worship and that she threw up at the sight of him performing such acts, and how she was planning to get to know said coworker better by asking him about his deity. "I'm… I'm trying to build up my tolerance…" she said, reaching for the TV remote, which he took away from her immediately.

"Why would you even care to build up your tolerance for something like this?" Neji asked again, turning on the TV and changing the channel to a show about cute animals. "You can get seriously sick, throwing up everything like you have been… Besides, this is literally the most trivial thing I could ever have thought to use for training – and believe me, Lee has a whole training regimen built around triviality. In fact, I should have brought him over to train with you because _I'm_ starting to get sick!"

Hinata shook her head, but didn't protest the cute puppies rolling around on the television. Maybe she should take a little break from this training anyway. Vomiting only twice in one movie three times in one night was really good compared to not watching them ever in the history of her life, right? That night, Hinata looked up on the internet, "How to build up a tolerance to gore." The first few results involved having a marathon of gory movies, but she had tried that with little to no success. She turned off her computer and sighed, rolling onto her bed.

_Perhaps I'll just… ask him what it's like,_ she thought before falling asleep.

* * *

In Deidara's room, Sasori and Deidara had fashioned a sort of pillow-couch-fort and were currently watching SAW on TV. They were having a small sleepover kind of thing, with popcorn and other snacks. Sasori wasn't usually one for sleepovers, mostly because he didn't sleep. At least, not usually. And in his admittedly strange lifetime he never had friends close enough to actually trust in his sleep anyway, so these kinds of sleepovers with Deidara were refreshing.

This time wouldn't have been an exception if it weren't for the fact that Deidara was something of his rival – not only in art, but in…

Well, he couldn't admit yet that it was a love rivalry. He never really confirmed Deidara's feelings on the matter anyway, so it seemed a bit premature to call it a rivalry. But he could see it in Deidara's eyes, the love and affection that was so easily expressed by him, especially when he was around _her_. Sasori couldn't shake the feeling of awkwardness – for lack of a better word – that overcame him when the subject of Hinata Hyuga was brought up – she has been on his mind all day.

The movie was ending and the credits were rolling, so Sasori thought it was as good a time as any to confirm once and for all what sort of threat Deidara was to him.

"Deidara…" he began, not sure what to say at first. "Hm?" Sasori hugged his knees to his chest and rested his cheek on them. "How… How do you feel about…" Now Deidara was looking at him curiously. It was rare for him to see Sasori hesitate, especially when he spoke. Sasori glanced around the room before getting around to his question.

"How do you feel about Hinata?"

Deidara paused to think. He felt his heart flutter a bit and suppressed a blush. "She's cool, hm. Why do you ask?" Sasori shrugged. "You guys were pretty chummy today, I noticed." At this, Deidara smirked and said, "Jealous?"

Sasori didn't answer and turned his attention back to the TV. "Why would I… be jealous of a silly brat like you…" he weakly retorted. Deidara's smirk faded as he sat next to him. Sasori sighed. "I can see it in your eyes, Deidara," he said after a moment. Confused, Deidara asked, "See what?" Sasori made an L shape out of his index finger and thumb and placed it on his forehead, saying, "Love, Deidara."

Deidara couldn't help but blush now. "L… Love, huh? You think I love Hinata, hm?" He tried to play it off like it wasn't a big deal. Sasori, of course, could read through the act. "It's pretty obvious, Deidara," he said sternly, a hint of irritation accidentally making it into his tone. He didn't want to seem aggressive about the subject, so he took a deep breath and continued, "The way you two act around each other… It's like, you look like," he struggled to find the words, which frustrated him greatly. The frustration was visible on his face for only a split second, but long enough for Deidara to notice.

"Hey, hey, hm. It's okay, Sasori," Deidara smiled at Sasori, which surprisingly calmed him down a little. "Let it all out, hm," he said, patting Sasori on the head.

Sasori took a moment to think about it. "I guess… I am jealous, Deidara. I want to be able to express how I feel as easily as you can – especially in front of –" he hesitated on saying her name. There was a moment of silence between them, and Sasori continued, "All I can see right now is how close you two are, and I want to be that close, too. I want to show her that… that I enjoy being around her…"

It felt a bit weird, confiding in the person causing him trouble about the trouble he was causing him. Deidara looked completely okay with it though, which was unexpected. "You want to know how I do it, Sasori?" he asked, Sasori looking at him with the smallest hint of anticipation.

"I just do it, hm. If you enjoyed being around her, you'd show it. Believe me, I know you can do it, hm – I've seen it before," Sasori looked at him, utterly confused. Deidara took a second to come up with an example. "When I watch you make your puppets, hm, it's like you're on fire, y'know? It's like… You're in the zone, hm, I can tell you're enjoying yourself because it's all in your face. The love you put into those little pieces of eternity that you create – it all comes from the face that you believe is your downfall, hm." Deidara absently waved a hand in the air. Sasori just stared at him, not knowing what to say.

"Sasori, you're more expressive than you think, hm." Deidara grinned at him, happy to help his fellow artist find a bit more about himself. Sasori felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, but it was different from all the smiles he made in the past. He couldn't bring himself to smile completely, but he smiled back at Deidara's grin, and the two slowly turned their attention back to the movie.

They spent the rest of the night watching stupid movies and making stupid comments on them until Deidara fell asleep and Sasori was left to stare at the ceiling, alone in his thoughts. Deidara was a better person than he gave him credit for. He was young and stupid, but he was young and himself, which was something Sasori felt he should spend some time searching for again.

Sighing, he rolled over and decided to try and sleep.

* * *

Hinata woke up the next morning feeling sick, just as Neji expected.

"You can't go to work like this – I'm pretty sure half of your vital organs are down the drain right now," Neji said, sitting at her bedside. Hinata weakly reached a hand out to attempt getting up, but Neji gently pushed it down to the bed again. "But I… I had plans…" she croaked. Neji sighed.

"No, Hinata. You can't go to work today. I'm forbidding it until you get better."

Hinata sat up quickly. "No, Neji! Please! I've… I've worked so hard…" she started feeling light headed, so she slowly shrank back into her bed.

"Look, I'll stop by your shop and let them know you're sick, alright? I'm going out training with TenTen and Lee today." He gave her a stern look before she could protest again. "Promise me you'll stay here?" He held out his pinky finger for her, and for a moment she stared at him. She realized that he wouldn't hear any argument from her, so she weakly hooked her pinky finger in his and grumbled, "I promise…"

Satisfied, Neji smiled at her and ruffled her head. "Good. Now please get better, I'll send someone to make you soup and tea."

Hinata groaned loudly so that Neji could hear it as he left her room. She heard him chuckling down the hallway and sighed, dropping herself down onto her pillows again. She began to drift off to sleep, slowly forgetting her goals of trying to get to know Hidan and spending more time with her friends.

Outside, Neji was walking in the general direction of the Akatsuki convenience store. However, from a distance, it didn't look like a convenience store. Was that a flower shop?

Tobi and Zetsu saw Neji approaching. Realizing that their cover was about to be blown, they looked at each other and said, "SHIT," then scrambled to contact the leader immediately. They were deeply troubled by his reaction.

"_**SHIT."**_

After a bit of scrambling just inside the doors, Pein stopped to ask Zetsu, "A-ha! Don't you have one of those memory erasure flower scent things? It's perfect!" He looked hopefully at his plant companion, who gave him a dubious look. "The memory erasure perfume isn't complete – right now the memory erasure plan is poison." Pein still looked hopefully at them, probably wondering what the big deal was. "That's Hinata's cousin out there, Leader," Tobi said softly. "Damn," Pein crossed his arms.

"Why is this kid even here? The Akatsuki shop isn't for just _anyone_ to use!" he exclaimed, exasperated. Tobi raised his hand as he thought of an idea. "Why don't we just ask him what he wants? It might be related to Hinata, since she isn't with him." Ignoring the perfectly logical idea, Pein gestured dramatically and said, "_OR,_ he's trying to snoop around and find out what we're all –"

They heard the front door's bell jingle, and a tuft of red hair step outside.

"Welcome back, Mr. Hyuga! How may I help you?" Sasori said with his usual poker face. Neji stood outside the shop, admiring the flowers first, and then noticing that the store had more depth beyond the front windows. "What… What's going on here? I thought you guys were a convenience store?" he asked inevitably. Sasori glanced behind him and made brief eye contact with Pein – somehow in that instant communicating that he was extremely irritated with them – and then turned back to Neji with a pleasant smile.

Gesturing to the store, he said, "Oh, we're going through a bit of renovation at the moment – these flowers are here to make the place look at least a little decent." Sasori chuckled a bit, making Neji a bit less tense. "What kind of renovations?" he asked casually. "Ah, well, the back of the store is being made more storage-friendly, so that we're not just stumbling around looking for stuff to throw on the shelves," Sasori answered.

_BRILLIANT, SASORI IS BRILLIANT_, Pein, Tobi, and Zetsu thought.

After a bit of chatting, Neji noticed that he was running late for his meeting with his friends. "Oh, and before I go… I just wanted to let you guys know that Hinata won't be at work today – she's sick at home." For a moment Sasori looked genuinely concerned, but it was soon replaced by professional indifference. "That's a shame – tell her to get well for me!" Neji nodded and waved to him, continuing on his way.

Sighing, Sasori made his way back inside, seeing the three stooges waiting eagerly for the news. "You guys are such…" He looked into their eyes and saw that his insult would be wasted on them, so he sighed again and said, "He came to tell us that Hinata's sick at home." Pein nodded. "Ah, I see. I suppose that's okay – she hasn't used any of her sick days anyway, so I can let this go." Sasori rolled his eyes at Pein's attempt to seem professional, not really caring if he noticed. He went into his room and came back out wearing his rarely-seen casual clothes, which consisted of a simple button-up shirt and a sweater.

"Where are you going?" Pein asked, already knowing the answer. Sasori glanced back at them before exiting and said, "Hinata's sick, and I'm going to take care of her."

Sasori was never really told where Hinata lived, but he found the address and map under Deidara's bed last night at their sleep over. He walked down the street, feeling somewhat excited to finally be able to see Hinata outside of that silly shop. "Excited" had always been a rather strong word to use to describe his mood, but this time it was right on the dot. He was almost skipping down the sidewalk until he was standing outside the gate.

He stood outside for a good five minutes, wondering what to do. Was he supposed to knock? He didn't want to make Hinata get out of bed – or worse, he didn't want to encounter one of her relatives and explain himself. He cautiously entered the gate, awkwardly peering into windows until he saw Hinata, lazing around on her bed in one room. She was laying on her stomach, her laptop in front of her and some sort of TV show playing on the screen.

He raised his hand, about to tap on the window, but he hesitated. What if she thought this was weird? Would she even want to be taken care of by him? What did she think of him, and what would she think of him now? Gosh, what if she thought he was weird? Sasori continued to psych himself out of this for a few minutes until Hinata's show ended and she rolled over on her bed to stretch. She looked out her window and saw him, and the two made eye contact.

She looked confused for a minute, but smiled at him anyway. She opened the window and leaned out of it, saying, "Hey, what's up?" Sasori stared at her, unsure of what to say. It was the first time he's spoken to her since he's started this whole "Love" fiasco, so he had about a million other things to say to her besides what was up. Hinata noticed his silence and gave him a somewhat worried glance, and it was then that Sasori cleared his throat awkwardly and stood up straighter.

"Hello, Hinata… I, uh, heard that you were sick," he said slowly, shifting his weight from side to side while trying to find his words again. He couldn't get past the fluttery feeling in his non-existent gut. Hinata only smiled at him, listening closely. "Uh, Leader sent me to take care of you… So that you can get better quicker..." He absently scratched the back of his head, looking for any excuse to back up the one he just made and said "He, uh, hates it when people don't show up… for work…" She nodded in understanding, rolling her eyes and commenting on Pein's dramatics. She said she couldn't sneak him through the house, so she opened the window a bit more to let him inside.

It was an effortless jump, but he landed on her bed – his nostrils immediately filling with the scent of her. He freaked out internally, but always kept his cool. He adjusted himself so that he sat on her bed, and Hinata sat next to him. "Y'know, you don't have to do this," she said, leaning over to shut her laptop. "I've been doing fine on my own – and I have maids that help me a lot, too."

_Shit, fuck, of course she has help already, she's the fucking princess of the Hyuga clan I can't believe this, I should have known_ – Sasori mentally berated himself for even coming, but smiled at her anyway. "Oh, I see… I can… I can leave if you want," he started to get up, but Hinata put a hand on his arm. He froze completely, not able to hide it well. It was the first time he's ever touched her – or at least, been touched by her. It wasn't a big deal in retrospect – since he was made of mostly puppet he didn't have a lot in terms of the sense of touch – but he had imagined holding her countless times throughout the day, and just the thought of her touching his arm was enough to make him feel like flying into the sun.

She noticed him hesitate at her touch, so she drew away from him a little. "You can stay and keep me company still – I mean, you came all this way for me, didn't you?" Sasori nodded and sat back down, hyperaware of how close their legs were as they sat next to each other. They sat in silence while Hinata thought of something to say. It had been a while since she spent time with Sasori, and he seemed a bit off of his game today, but she didn't know what to do about it.

"Um… Sasori," she started, hesitating. He turned to her and stared, making her a bit nervous. "Well, uh… what… what do you want to do today…?" His gaze continued, unfazed by her question. They stared at each other as Sasori thought of something to say. What _was_ he thinking about? He was so distracted by her scent and being in her room and being able to sit so close to her for the first time – it was such a full time job _feeling_ things that he didn't even know what to say.

He said, "Well, you're the sick one, so what do you want to do?" He had to admit, he was being a lot smoother than he predicted. He gave her a smile just for reassurance that he didn't feel like a total shit-head for feeling so nervous around her. Hinata shrugged. "We can watch stuff, I guess. Are you hungry? Thirsty?" She stood up and stretched, then placed her hands on her hips and looked at him. He stared back at her, and suddenly she gasped and said, "Oh – my gosh, I'm sorry – you're – you probably don't eat or drink, do you? Aaah I'm so sorry I didn't – I shouldn't have –" She turned red with embarrassment and waved her arms in front of her.

Sasori stared at her as she freaked out, which of course made her even more flustered. He realized that she was probably just as nervous as he was – maybe not in the same way, but still. The two of them have been sitting in this uncomfortable blanket of an atmosphere and for what? They had been alone together before. This was Hinata, he had always been comfortable around her, why should this time be any different? He suppressed a chuckle, making Hinata stop for a moment. The total confusion on his face just tickled him a certain way, and he kept laughing, more than he's ever laughed in his entire life.

Hinata couldn't help but stare and ask, "Wh… what's so funny?" What did she do to make this calm and composed man laugh so much?

Sasori stood up and walked to her, pulling her into a hug. He made them stay like that for a long time, and somehow Hinata didn't mind. She was happy that he was able to let go like that in front of her, even though she didn't know what he was laughing about. Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

TWA

Sasori has been going through a bunch of stuff these past few chapters, hasn't he? We'll see how all this goes eventually...

In regards to who Kakuzu's lover was in the last chapter – I meant for her to be a mystery. I don't actually have anyone paired up with Kakuzu. But if you want to know about what my headcanon is in regards for this story, I imagine that in their greatest years Kakuzu dedicated his entire life to her. He made her all kinds of clothes and showered her with gifts, but when they needed to actually support themselves Kakuzu couldn't bring himself to stop spending money for her. She broke up with him so that they could both survive, and that was when Kakuzu began obsessing over finances. Showering money with attention was the only thing he could devote himself to after she left.

And yeah, that's what I was thinking. Sorry for the heartbreak, 'kuzu!


	13. Hidan

Thanks for the reviews! They give me life.

* * *

"Hinata, why are you sick in the first place? You were completely fine yesterday," Sasori asked as they were sitting on her bed, watching a movie on Hinata's laptop. She laughed nervously and said, "Uh, well…"

She explained that her goal was to get to know Hidan better, with all the Jashinism and immortality and stuff. However, she absolutely cannot handle the gory stuff that he does – or gore in general, as evidenced by their time at the beach. "So I decided to marathon SAW and I got sick from throwing up too much…" she covered her face in embarrassment. Sasori laughed, and Hinata smiled at him. "You have such a nice laugh, Sasori," she said softly. He felt himself blush, even though it couldn't show up on his features. Instead, he stared at her, the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

The two of them continued on with the movie, watching a bunch of them in one sitting, intermittently getting up to refill snacks and drinks – all for Hinata, of course, since Sasori didn't eat much, if at all. After a while, Hinata started to chat with him about little things, which soon evolved into bigger things. She asked him what it was like before he became a puppet, and if he remembered at all how he died, and what it was like to be a puppet now. He was somewhat flattered by her curiosity, but didn't know how to respond at first.

Sasori lay down on the bed while she sat next to him. "I was… I was about 17 when I died, I think, so that's why I made my puppet-self look so young… it was the last image of myself that I knew of," he said. Hinata nodded, staring at his face and the parts of his 'skin' that were visible. "I think… I don't know, I really don't remember how I died at all, or why I was kept alive…" He lifted his arm and studied it. "I vaguely remember being stabbed, maybe."

Hinata reached out for the hand he was examining, and he stiffened again. She noticed him hesitate again, but she kept her hand there. She lightly traced her hand up his arm, amazed at how smooth it was. You could still tell he was made of wood when you touched him, but from afar he looked like a regular person. Sasori stared at her, wondering what she was so curious about.

"Do you think…" she started, holding his hand in hers, "… Do you think that Pein knows?" She looked at him and the two of them stared at each other for a bit. "I never thought to ask," Sasori said softly, sitting up slowly. His gaze fell to their hands again. They always held hands at work, but somehow this time was different. He was just noticing how soft her hands were, and how warm she made him feel. She had affected him so much these past few days, and she had no idea. His fingers interlaced with hers, and Hinata suddenly felt his stare. The intensity of his gaze was lost on her because of her focus on his arm, but now, when she looked into his eyes she saw…

They were leaning closer to each other without realizing it. Hinata began to close her eyes, feeling a fluttering sensation in her stomach. Sasori studied her face carefully, but pulled away suddenly. Her eyes fluttered open and she found that Sasori had backed himself into the wall, looking confused. He stared at her for a long while, which was something they've been doing a lot of these past few hours. Hinata began to turn red and put her hands on her face, flushing with embarrassment. "I-I-I… I'm… s-sorry, I'm –"

There was a knock on the door – it was probably Neji coming back from his day. Hinata looked to the door and then back at Sasori, who was already at the window, ready to jump out. "I'll see you at work tomorrow, Hinata," he said before leaping out the window.

Hinata stared after him for a few moments as Neji opened the door and walked in.

* * *

Sasori ran down the street for a few blocks before slowing to a stop. He was breathing hard, but not from running. What was happening back there with Hinata? What was he supposed to do? It was all such a mystery to him and it frustrated him to not know things. He leaned against the wall and lazily looked out at the street, full of people and life and just… stuff. But it was all background noise compared to the way Hinata stuck out in his mind.

_This is too much for me,_ he thought, closing his eyes. He never got the chance to experience this sort of stuff when he as alive, so of course he wouldn't know what to do. But what was there to do now? He made his way back to the shop and sat at the cash registers, as usual. No one really paid any mind to him, since he looked as he always had – calm, cool, like he knew what he was doing. But there was a storm raging inside of him that had no way of coming out. He was starting to feel trapped in his own body, like there wasn't any way out. Sasori leaned back on his chair and sighed.

He glanced to his left and saw Deidara gathering up his sculptures, probably about to blow them up and replace them. Seeing Deidara go about his business reminded Sasori about their conversation last night at their sleepover.

"_Sasori, you're more expressive than you think, hm,"_

He stared at Deidara for a while until he noticed him staring. Deidara smiled and waved, then walked over to where Sasori was at the registers. "Where've you been all day, hm?" he asked. Sasori shrugged, absently twirling a pen in his hand. "I… I was at Hinata's house," he said softly. Deidara asked him why, and he answered, "She's sick, and I wanted to go take care of her – but we ended up just watching movies and stuff." Deidara looked at Sasori for a minute and saw how distracted he was. He smiled a bit sympathetically and patted Sasori's shoulder. "And how'd _that_ go, hm?"

Sasori recalled how close his face was to Hinata's, and how her eyes were closed and how red her cheeks were and how soft her hand was and how they were so, so close to each other in that moment…

"Hellooo, hm, Earth to Sasori – you there?" Deidara waved a hand in front of Sasori's face and chuckled as he blinked back in surprise. "What, did something _else_ happen at Hinata's house, _hm_?" Deidara grinned mischievously, making Sasori annoyed. "N-Nothing happened! I just… I had to leave her house quickly because her brother came home…" he stammered uncharacteristically. Deidara's grin widened even more. "And why would _that_ be a problem, hm? Unless you two were doing something –" Deidara stopped after seeing the look in Sasori's face. It was something he'd never seen Sasori express before, something that seemed far away from his expressive vocabulary.

Sasori looked flustered.

His eyes were wide and his lips were pressed together in an anxious frown. His shoulders were tense, and the only thing missing was the red color of his cheeks, which couldn't actually happen because of his being a puppet. After a moment of observation, Deidara dropped the grin and replaced it with a smile. He reached out and ruffled Sasori's hair, making him loosen up a bit. "Hey, c'mon, now, I'm just kidding, hm," he gestured to the door and asked, "Do you wanna go take a break from everything and take a walk or something?"

Sasori stared blankly at him, confused at the offer at first since it wasn't what he was expecting. But he accepted the break anyway and followed Deidara out the door. They walked around and chatted about random things, getting into heated debates that were surprisingly refreshing to Sasori. Being able to call Deidara a little brat made him feel normal again.

They returned to the shop later that evening. Deidara decided that it was a good time to bring their attention back to Hinata."Y'know, Sasori," Deidara began, "I don't know what happened, hm, but I can tell that you were really affected by it." Sasori didn't look at him, but only stared ahead and listened. "It might do you good to just… take a break from whatever's eating you, hm, y'know?" Deidara patted Sasori's shoulder and left him with the thought.

Sasori looked on as Deidara disappeared into his room, and then looked around the dimly lit shop around him. The moonlight shined through the windows, casting strong shadows on the many shelves and kiosks in the store. Everyone was in their own rooms now, and it was about time for Sasori to do the same. He silently made his way to his room and sat at his work desk and absently organized it for the rest of the night, trying to distract himself from his ever-present thoughts of the Akatsuki's Hyuga.

* * *

Hinata appeared at work the next day. She walked in through the front doors and looked around. Usually she'd see Sasori sitting at the registers, but today he wasn't there. In fact, he didn't seem to be at his section of the store, either. She walked around a bit aimlessly for a moment, but then thought that he might not want to see her after what happened yesterday. She looked downward for a moment, remembering how confused he was and how he was probably mad at her now. Perhaps it was best if she just left him alone, then.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting the action calm her down. She looked toward the bookshelves and recalled her previous goal of getting to know Hidan. The bookshelves were tall as always, and the books were all strange as they had been. She scanned the many spines – some of which looked like actual human spines – but she couldn't seem to find _The Bible of Jashin_.

"You lookin' for this?"

Behind her, Hidan was holding up the book she was looking for. He had it held up for a few moments, but then he let it rest on his shoulder as he held it, since it was a rather hefty book. Hinata stared at him at first, somewhat intimidated. He was shirtless, but she never realized how many scars he had. In fact, they were very intricate scars, a lot of them tracing the skeletal markings he had when he turned black and white. She saw the scar of the wound he made at the beach, already feeling queasy at the memory. But she managed to gulp it down and smile as he smiled at her.

"Oh… um, well… yes, actually," Hinata said after a minute. Hidan's smile widened to a grin. "That's a first," he said, handing the book to her. It was a lot heavier than she remembered – did he add more pages to it? What kinds of things are written in here? "You want to know about my Lord and Savior, Jashin?" he asked eagerly. Hinata nodded, smiling at his enthusiasm.

Hidan walked away, beckoning for Hinata to walk with him. She followed him up the stairs, past Kakuzu's corner and into the part of the store where it was unnaturally dark. She wondered briefly why she was following him, but she passed it off as another one of Akatsuki's mysteries. She found out that it was actually just a curtain, one that was made of a kind of fabric that was darker than black, where if you stared into it you would be lost in a void of nothing. The way Hidan just swept it to the side was disorienting, since it seemed like he was pushing aside a void into another universe.

Behind the curtain was a small vestibule area that seemed to be the entrance to an even bigger building in the back. Hidan let the curtain sway behind him and stopped where he stood. Hinata looked at him and he gestured for her to look around. Walking around the small room, Hinata saw that there were little pamphlets and papers that talked about Jashinism and how to worship him and stuff like that. She flipped through it briefly, and then walked a bit more to look at the small art gallery.

The biggest painting was of a shadowed figure with a large circle with a triangle in it. She supposed that it was Jashin himself. All the other pictures were particularly hard to look at because of how gory they were, but the entire room was very nice and welcoming. "You can take a brochure, if you want," Hidan said from across the room. Hinata smiled at him and held up the brochure she already had in her hand. He walked up to a set of double doors and beckoned her to him.

"I run the Church of Jashin here," Hidan said, opening the doors and dramatically gesturing his arms out to show Hinata the Church. She didn't know what to expect, but somehow what she saw made sense. Usually when you hear "Church of," you think of a quiet place, brightly lit with pews and a huge altar at the front. However, this church was very different. Though there were pews and an altar and stained-glass windows in the back part of the church, the other half near the entrance – where the two of them were standing – was filled with a bunch of weapons, from guns to knives and other sharp objects. The contrast between the heavy weaponry and the peaceful altar was alarming.

Hinata stared in wonder at the area, and Hidan watched her reaction, proud of his hard work. "Isn't it beautiful? This place is exactly where I was meant to be," Hidan sighed wistfully as he gently petted one of the nearby machetes. Hinata felt a bit scared of all the sharp objects surrounding her. It wasn't her favorite thing being in the presence of many sharp objects. But she was still amazed at Hidan's skillful weapon crafting, and was even more amazed at how diverse a skillset all the Akatsuki seemed to have.

"Feel free to look around – you can sit over there if you like, read through the pamphlets and such," he said as he walked over to the counter in the corner. "You don't want to… explain any of this to me in your own words?" Hinata asked. "I'll let Lord Jashin speak for himself," he smiled and pointed up to the altar, where the same hooded figure was depicted, along with the same circle with a triangle in it. Hinata walked over to a seat, noticing that behind each pew was a small knife. The Jashin religion seemed very scary to her already, and she hasn't even opened the packet yet.

According to the packet, Jashinism was a religion based on destruction and chaos. Jashinists sacrifice through murder in battle or with their own bodies, and the entire process is really gruesome and bloody. Hinata briefly wondered why they would need a church setting if this was what it was all about, but she supposed that the people will need a quiet place to worship…

She glanced backwards at Hidan, who was polishing a scythe with three blades on it. He noticed her staring and grinned at her, and then walked over to sit next to her. They sat in silence for a few moments until Hinata decided to ask, "Are there other people who follow Jashinism?" Hidan answered, "Yeah, there are. But they're all far away, and there aren't any scheduled services or anything." He laughed for a bit and said, "Imagine the bloodbath that would be." Hinata smiled a little, laughing at the dark humor. "Sacrificing must be really… therapeutic to you," she commented after a bit.

Hidan looked at her. What a peculiar thing to say. Well, it wasn't peculiar, but he didn't expect it from her at all. Hidan knew that Hinata wasn't the sort of person to follow Jashinism, but he really appreciated her interest. All the other Akatsuki had either heard all about it already or just didn't care. All of them thought that it was all senseless violence and gore. None of them seemed to understand that Jashinism, like any other religion, was a way to be at peace with yourself and your surroundings.

"What do you believe, Hinata?" Hidan asked.

Hinata took a long moment to think. "I'm… I don't know what I believe, honestly," she said softly. "I don't know how to put my trust in something the way people do with religion… But I really like how people can find peace with themselves with it, y'know?" she had pressed her fingers together as they talked, which was a habit she didn't know she still had. She tried to kick the habit years ago, but whenever people asked her to talk about herself it made her uneasy. Who would ever want to know about her anyway? "But that's really lame, isn't it? Not being able to believe in anything…" she said as an afterthought.

Hidan absently played with one of the knives in the pews. "I don't think it's lame, Hinata," he said. Hinata looked at him, not sure what to say. "Religion isn't for everyone. There are a lot of other ways to find peace," he looked into her eyes for a while and then smiled. "Sacrificing and worship… It's a lot like thanking someone for what they've done… I do my daily rituals because I'm so fucking thankful to the Lord Jashin for giving me a path, for helping me find my way –" he stopped to see if Hinata was understanding. She looked at him with a gleam in her eye, one of admiration and happiness – not for herself, but for him. It perplexed him a lot, but he smiled at her anyway.

There was a knock at the door, and Hidan went up to answer it. It was Sasori, holding up a broken knife or tool of some sort.

"Hey, Hidan. I broke this knife again – can you fix it?" His eyes fell upon Hinata, who was staring right at him. Hidan took the knife and nodded. "Oh, yeah. Gimme a sec, I'll get you a replacement one for now," Hidan walked into a room to the side, and Sasori and Hinata were left alone.

Neither of them knew what to say. Sasori kept up his poker face, and Hinata was turning red. She looked like she was about to say something, but Hidan returned from the back room. He noticed the suddenly tense atmosphere and said, "Holy shit, did I miss something?" There was silence, but Sasori walked up to Hidan and said, "Oh, no. It was nothing. Thanks for this, Hidan," he took the knife and walked away. Hinata automatically stood up to follow him, but stopped when she was next to Hidan.

"Oh, um, I, uh –" she stumbled to find an excuse to leave, but Hidan just chuckled and said, "I hope you find your way, Hinata." She thanked him for the good times and smiled at him before leaving through the doors. Hinata walked straight past the gallery that made her stomach clench and burst through the curtains, grabbing the attention of Kakuzu, who was sitting in his corner of the store.

He looked at her, noticing where she was coming from and that she was holding a Jashinism pamphlet. "Yikes," he said, "Are you into that silly religion stuff now, too?" Hinata looked at the pamphlet and then at Kakuzu. She wanted to tell him that religion was important to a lot of people, but she didn't have the time. She had to find Sasori.

But when she made her way downstairs, she couldn't find him. He was probably locked up in his room or doing other things. She knew that he was avoiding her, and it hurt her a lot more than she could recognize.

She sighed and spent the rest of her time at work in the coffee shop under the stairs, reading up on Jashin and drinking coffee.

* * *

TWA

Sorry for the lateness! Canada and stuff, I have no excuse.


	14. Disgrace

By the way, apparently there's an actual like, thing about Jashinism. I mean, it's only an internet community but they're treating it like a religion… It's really surreal honestly… Kind of scary. But y'know, it's there, it exists. ((WARNING it's EXTREMELY triggering – the photos have a lot of blood and self-harm and stuff.))

But yeah. Welcome to the 14th chapter! Wow, that's a lot. This is getting long…

* * *

Deidara sat at his work table, totally stumped about what to do. He had just recently destroyed his previous collection, and was now at a loss of what to put out next. He spun around in his work chair, bored out of his mind, lacking inspiration. After twirling a few times, his eyes fell on a small figurine on his desk, in the corner, swept away and forgotten about until now.

It was the little clay figure of Hinata that he made a few days ago, when he picked up Hinata from her house. He couldn't believe that it was still there – it was probably the longest living piece of his art that ever lived. Deidara grabbed it from its place in the corner, and upon further observation he concluded that it was something he needed to show Hinata. He saw that Hinata wasn't picked up from her house yet (according to Tobi) so he volunteered to go pick her up himself.

He put on the same blue cardigan from last time, and left the shop, whistling a happy tune along the way. The Hinata figurine was in his pocket, and he couldn't wait to show her.

When he arrived at her place, he knocked on the door and waited excitedly for her to answer the door. However, a moment afterward he recalled the last time he was here, and how Hinata was being chewed out by her dad and how her dad glared at him last time. The door began to open, and to his utter dismay, Hinata's father opened the door. But it didn't look like he was answering the door – Hiashi Hyuga looked like he was about to leave the house on business.

There was an awkward moment where Hiashi didn't notice Deidara standing there until he bumped into his shoulder on the way out of his house. But when their shoulders made eye contact, the look on Hiashi's face could have killed a man. Deidara felt his stomach sink for a moment, but stood his ground anyway. Hiashi closed the door and faced Deidara head-on, an intimidating aura all around him.

"Who are you?" Hiashi demanded. For a moment, Deidara forgot his own name, but when it came to him he said, "D-Deidara, hm. I'm friends with your daughter." Hiashi looked at Deidara for what seemed like an eternity. "I will not stand for this foolishness. My daughter is enough of a disgrace as it is. I don't need you to help her along the path of stupidity," Hiashi said sternly to Deidara, who frowned at all the harsh words he used.

How dare he call Hinata a disgrace? How could he say that about his own family – his own daughter? Did he not see the great contributions she's made to the people around her? This was the man that regularly took Hinata's smile away – and for what? Because she wasn't a great ninja? Person? Anything? Hinata, the breath of fresh air for the Akatsuki Shop and the most important girl in his life?

A disgrace?

Hiashi began to walk down the front porch, but Deidara said to him, "Hinata is _not_ a disgrace, hm." This stopped Hiashi in his tracks, and made him glare back at Deidara. "Excuse me?" he said, disbelief outlining his features. Deidara glared back at Hiashi and repeated, "Hinata Hyuga is not a disgrace – not to her family, and especially not to us." Hiashi shook his head, beginning to walk away again. "I've not the time for this. Do what you will, I don't care," he said, absently waving a hand.

Hinata heard some of the commotion from her open window, and by this time had opened the door to see what was happening. Deidara was huffing with anger, and yelled after Hiashi, "HINATA IS THE GREATEST THING TO HAPPEN TO ME – _YOU'RE_ THE DISGRACE –" At this, Hiashi swiftly turned around and grabbed Deidara's shirt collar, pulling and lifting him close to his face. Hinata gasped, but was frozen in fear of her father.

"You listen here, you _insolent_ boy," Hiashi seethed, "I don't care what you do with my daughter – she has embarrassed herself enough without your help – but don't you ever, _ever_ speak to me like you know what it's like – Do you understand?" Hiashi didn't wait for Deidara to respond. He only dropped him and continued to walk to his destination, which was the limousine waiting for him on the curb. Deidara quickly got up, about to chase after the vehicle, but was stopped when he heard a muffled sob come from behind him.

Hinata was kneeling on her porch, her breathing ragged and her hands covering her face in shame and fear. She had a distant look in her eye, as if she were lost in her own world. Deidara kneeled in front of her, unsure of what to do. He placed a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't seem to notice. "Hinata, hm –" he brushed her hair away from her face, but absolutely nothing he did seemed to reach her. He was growing more worried by the second, but he didn't know what to do.

Her breathing was ragged, uneven – she was hyperventilating almost. She was saying things, but they were incoherent and mixed up. Hinata felt so embarrassed about the state she was in at the moment, but she couldn't find a way out of it. She was so affected by what her father said about her, and then even more affected when he almost assaulted Deidara. Then she was overcome with guilt that she didn't do anything to help him. She was overwhelmed by all the emotion that crippled her everything.

"Uh – Hinata, uh – Just breathe?" Deidara cupped her face in his hands, desperately wiping the tears off her face. Hinata managed to choke out small phrases – "I'm sorry – didn't – I couldn't – help you –" Deidara shook his head and pressed his forehead to hers. "Hey, hey, I'm fine, hm. See? Nothing," he said softly, slowly holding her hand. She seemed to be able to breathe easier, but not by much. He decided to pick her up bridal-style and bring her back to her room, where it was familiar and safe. He wandered down the hall to the kitchen and brought her a glass of water to sip on while she calmed down.

Hinata's breaths were finally coming at a normal pace, but she still had tears streaming down her face. She covered her face in embarrassment. Deidara didn't dare touch her – she looked so fragile. He heard her sigh softly and say to him, "I'm… I'm sorry you had to… see me like this…" She ran a hand through her hair and continued to cover half her face with her hand. She turned away from Deidara and closed her eyes. "This… I never wanted anyone to see me this way…"

Deidara slowly reached out to her and took her hand in his. He leaned closer to her and said, "I'll always want to see you, hm." He moved her hands so that their fingers interlaced, and Hinata was suddenly very aware of how close Deidara was to her. She briefly recalled the time with Sasori and blushed a little, wondering if the same thing would happen here. She didn't know what she would do if something did happen between them right now. What if Deidara hated her after something happened – like Sasori did?

Hinata couldn't bear the thought of losing Deidara, too. She almost felt like crying again, but she didn't want Deidara to worry. However, he noticed her sudden bout of sadness anyway, and was currently wiping away the tears that were falling on their own. "Hinata, hm, it's okay," he said softly, giving up on wiping her tears away and just hugging her. She hugged him tightly, saying muffled apologies and thank you's that made Deidara stop her with a kiss.

A kiss.

Hinata barely knew it was happening because it was so sudden and spontaneous and surprising and other adjectives that began with the letter "S." Deidara pulled away slowly, and said a small apology to her before smiling a bit. Hinata barely remembered how it felt to be kissed since it was so quick. She briefly touched her lips, and then she immediately looked up at Deidara, somehow expecting a look of worry on his face. But he looked content and even somewhat amused with the look on her face.

Hinata wanted to ask him why he did that, but she somehow knew better than to ask Deidara why he did anything. Deidara kissed her because he felt like it, because it felt like something he should do at that time. There was no reason to ask "Why," because it just made sense to him, and the answer came so naturally that he didn't feel the need to explain. Despite this, Deidara still said, "I didn't know how to tell you to stop apologizing, hm," as an offering of explanation. Hinata nodded and looked down, paying special attention to the fluttering in her stomach. Is this what would have happened with Sasori? The thought didn't bother as much because she was so distracted by Deidara's presence.

There was a silence between them, and for a split second Deidara thought that Hinata didn't like the kiss. For a split second, he considered that she didn't understand the reasons behind his actions, and for that split second, Deidara wanted to explain himself. But in the second immediately after, he felt Hinata tug on his sleeve to grab is attention, and to his utter surprise and delight, she said,

"Kiss me again."

And they did, and it was a few seconds longer and sweeter and everything about anything was forgotten.

* * *

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events," Pein said as he stood in front of a wall of TV screens, each one streaming a security camera feed from an impossible amount of locations. The one screen he was focusing on was his ZetsuCam4000, which was basically Zetsu constantly throwing a camera around on the outside world via plants. Today, the ZetsuCam4000 was watching Hinata and Deidara walking to the shop – about an hour late – and holding hands, being sweet on each other (at least, more than usual.)

Konan walked up to him and casually wrapped an arm around him, and he did the same, draping an arm around her shoulders. She looked at the screen and said, "Oh my, did I just win a bet?" Pein chuckled softly, stroking her hair a little as he watched Deidara and Hinata enter the store.

On another screen, Sasori was seen staring at them from his section of the store. You could see his eyes widen a bit, and then melt back into his usual poker face. Then Sasori skulked back into his room, and didn't come out. Deidara noticed Sasori retreat into his room, and a sudden realization seemed to dawn on him. For a brief moment, panic struck his face, but went unnoticed by Hinata. Deidara anxiously looked back at Sasori's section, guilt clearly on his features.

"I don't know if you've won this one yet, Konan," Pein said after watching the scene. "There's still quite a bit of summer left for us to find out."

* * *

_FUUUCK. FUCK. HOLY SHIT._ Deidara thought aggressively to himself as Pein appeared to tell Hinata what to do for the day. He forgot about how Sasori confided in him about possibly having a thing for Hinata, and how it was also painfully obvious to pretty much everyone that Sasori had a thing for Hinata. What was he thinking, moving in on her when just the other day he was being a good friend to Sasori? Deidara felt extremely guilty but he couldn't bring himself to let Hinata know. How would he even bring this up? He felt like such an asshole. He was an asshole. He was currently being an asshole.

Hinata looked at Deidara before dispatching herself off to work somewhere else in the shop. He was standing stiffly, facing the shelf and holding one of his small clay birds. Hinata happily walked to him and gently brushed a hand on his arm, causing him to jump. He didn't realize that he was so wrapped up in his thoughts. The bird fell to the ground with a dissatisfying crumble and the two of them just watched it fall. Both of them briefly recalled the last time they accidentally broke on of his creations and almost smiled at the memory.

Deidara felt Hinata squeeze his arm lightly for his attention again and heard her say, "I'll… see you at lunch?" She gave him a small smile, and he smiled back at her. "Yeah, I'll see you, hm." He slowly lifted her hand and kissed it and enjoyed the blush it created on her cheeks. She laughed a bit and waved off the pleasantly awkward feeling she got, and he watched her walk off. He couldn't help but always try to make her smile, to get her to laugh or something. It was always comforting to see her smile.

He discreetly made the destroyed bird sculpture explode into tiny, sweep-able dust particles and went to go grab a broom and dustpan. He absently swept up the small mess, not paying much mind because dust was a familiar substance in his line of work. He kept sweeping until he decided to just tidy up his entire section, which would busy him for the rest of the day.

* * *

Sasori could sense it. He could see it in their body language, their stupid, expressive, _beautiful_ body language – a language that he could not express even the tiniest bit. He could barely even express the strong ache in his chest that should have worried him – since, y'know, it was the only thing keeping him alive at the moment – but he couldn't care less at the moment. The only thing he could register was that he was _feeling_ things. And he was feeling them very intensely.

Everything was so mixed up – anger, jealousy, regret, sadness – seeing the two of them together like that drove him nuts. There was a chaos growing inside of him that he didn't know how to tame.

On the outside, Sasori just walked back into his room. There was no heavy breathing, no stiff shoulders, no stomping because he didn't get his way. Everyone saw "Just Sasori," with his indifferent, bored expression. He sat down on his bed and almost felt himself rotting, sinking into the sheets like hot lava – silent but boiling with activity and passion.

Deidara had won the race, and he didn't even know he was running.

* * *

TWA

Sorry for the late-ness! I've been kinda busy and somewhat unmotivated lately.

To Guest: You weren't rude at all, I hope you don't ever feel rude for giving any sort of reasonable request or question! I hope this chapter answered it, actually, hehe. Thanks for reviewing!


	15. Samehada

I finished the story "Unreadable," after all this time, in case any of you were following that one from long ago. And I've updated and in the process of further updating my other story, "Rich Girl," too. So, yeah. That's about it.

Enjoy!

* * *

Hinata was assigned to help Itachi and Kisame organize and look through all the things Kisame has gathered for his section of the store. Kisame, of course, was running a sort of aquarium – however, all his exhibits seemed to be rare and possibly yet to be discovered aquatic life forms. There seemed to be a million tanks with things like mermaids, sirens, anglerfish, and other seemingly mythical and rarely seen creatures of the deep. Kisame spent a lot of time bragging and reminiscing about when he sought out each creature, while Itachi and Hinata both held clipboards and wrote down the names of all the many water tanks.

"He loves talking about his fish collection –" Itachi leaned over to whisper to Hinata as Kisame, also with a clipboard, took note of one of the fish in front of him. Hinata nodded and smiled. Kisame's enthusiasm was contagious – Hinata found it hard not to be interested, even though Itachi seemed to be quite bored. "Oh, man, look – this one's his favorite."

The three of them walked up to the biggest tank of all, which Kisame said housed his biggest and favorite sea creature of all – the shark. This shark wasn't like any in Hinata's old science textbooks. This one, as it swam by, seemed to have razor-sharp scales in addition to its razor-sharp teeth. It swam slowly, but it could definitely afford to be slow since anything that came close to it would have been ripped to shreds by its exterior alone. Hinata leaned as close as she could to the tank, staring in wonder at the sharp creature.

"His name is Samehada," Kisame said triumphantly, enjoying the awed look on Hinata's face. He grinned briefly at Itachi, who nodded for him to continue. "I found him deep in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He wouldn't leave me alone when I came across him – it was as if he were my soul mate, y'know? I had to take him with me and he didn't seem to mind." Kisame noted that he didn't take any aquatic life without its permission, which strangely hinted to the fact that Kisame could talk to fish. But Hinata was too hypnotized by the Samehada to notice.

The shark saw its owner standing outside of its tank, and immediately swam up to him, the tip of its nose lightly scraping the glass wall. Hinata stood back, startled by the small lacerations in the glass. Was it going to break? What would they do? How would they save the shark? Themselves?

Itachi moved forward and put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "It's okay, Hinata. Samehada always does that. This glass isn't just any kind of glass – Kisame wouldn't even waste his time on the cheap stuff." Hinata nodded slowly, only a little bit reassured of the reinforced glass structure that held the pointy shark. Kisame pressed his nose against the glass, looking as if he were fondly communicating with his shark friend.

"Samehada's scales don't cut things, y'know. They shred," Kisame said wistfully to no one in particular, the shark waving his fins happily. The scene reminded Hinata of a dog-owner seeing his puppy after a long trip. It was very heart-warming.

Almost as heart-warming as earlier this morning, when Deidara defended her in front of her father. No one has ever really had the guts to stand up to him – no one in her family, much less a stranger to the Hyuga residence. Hiashi was always quick to criticize her, and all she's ever done is take it. She let it beat her down, wear her thin, strip down her confidence until there was barely anything left. This has been going on since her earliest childhood memory, and to have those words thrown back at her verbal attacker for the first time was… surreal. She could barely register what happened, since she broke down in a panic in the middle of the ordeal. But she did remember what Deidara said.

"_Hinata is the greatest thing to ever happen to me!"_

She sighed at the memory. She was never categorized as great, not ever in her lifetime. Hearing those words – especially from Deidara – made her heart sing.

Hinata clutched the clipboard to her chest, lost in her own blissful thoughts. Itachi gave her an amused and curious look and after a moment decided to break the silence between them. "What's got you all giddy now, Hinata?" Hinata immediately snapped back to reality, almost dropping her pen as she looked around, suddenly alert to her surroundings. Her jolt of activity caught Kisame's attention, and he too assumed his usual perfect posture and cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed of his doting behavior in front of his coworkers.

"Shall we continue?" he said awkwardly, a highly amused Itachi and a self-conscious Hinata following behind him as they ventured deeper into the aquarium. Lunchtime couldn't come quicker.

When lunchtime did arrive, Hinata nervously made her way back to Deidara's section of the store. Her stomach fluttered at the thought of seeing him again, and it made her giggle a bit. He opened the door to his room before she could knock, and he happily stepped aside to let her in. The two stood next to each other awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with themselves during their break.

Hinata found that it was hard to look at hiim because it made her too flustered to speak. Deidara, however, had no problem staring at her, because the look on her face was extremely amusing – cute, even. He didn't know what to do with their time either, but he shrugged off the self-conscious uncertainty and decided to wing it, as he's done countless times before.

Slowly, so that he wouldn't scare her, he reached his hand out to touch her arm, as she did earlier that day to grab his attention. She seemed to stiffen at his touch, but only because she was so nervous. He laughed a bit at this – it was hard to imagine anyone being nervous in his presence, let alone Hinata, who has proven that she's comfortable around him before now. Looking at her flushed cheeks and her shy smile, he supposed the times were different.

Deidara chuckled a little, earning a look of surprise from Hinata. She nervously checked herself, but he rubbed her arms so that she'd calm down a bit. "Hey, hey, hm. No need to be so nervous, alright?" Hinata looked down, feeling bad about how nervous she was. Deidara brushed his fingertips against her cheek, making her look back up at him. "Relax, hm. It's just me, y'know." Hinata looked into his eyes for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and exhaling it. "Y-You're right. I'm sorry, I just…" She put a hand on her cheek and felt how warm she was. Deidara pressed his forehead against hers. "Do you wanna… go grab something to eat, hm?" he asked her softly, their fingers interlacing. Hinata relaxed a bit. Holding his hand was always a calming experience.

The two walked out of the shop, shaking off the curious stares of the others as they left. They walked a bit down the street, settling for a nearby ramen shop. At the door, however, Hinata froze and gripped Deidara's hand tightly. Sitting there at the counter was a familiar, spiky-haired blonde kid dressed in a black and orange jumpsuit. He was chatting with the cook, as they were good friends. Hinata stared wide-eyed at him, unsure of what to do with herself.

Confused, Deidara looked at Hinata and then scanned the entire shop. Nothing was really out of the ordinary. Just a customer here and there, which was expected since it was lunch time. Deidara squeezed her hand in response to her and softly said her name. He followed her gaze to the blonde kid at the counter and then looked back at her again.

"Are you okay, hm?" he asked, concern all over his features. Hinata didn't know what to tell him. He huffed and gently tugged her out of the restaurant and over to the side of the entrance. "Who was that boy, hm?" he asked, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She gripped the hem of her shirt nervously. "He was… Well, I…" Hinata struggled with her words, visibly nervous under Deidara's unintentionally piercing gaze. He was just curious, he didn't want to scare the answer out of her. He held both of her hands in his, and she looked up to see his reassuring smile. She smiled back at him, and found her words again.

Hinata explained to Deidara about the boy named Naruto Uzumaki, and about her childhood crush on him. She told him that Naruto was her first experience with love, and effectively her first heartbreak as well. She never had the courage to talk to him on a regular day, let alone confess her feelings. So she just sat in the background of his life as he found romance elsewhere. Everyone knew about her crush on Naruto except for Naruto himself, even though it was painfully obvious.

The story made Deidara somewhat sad. Imagining Hinata standing in the background was hard to imagine, since she seemed to shine so much in not only his life, but he imagined everyone else's at the Akatsuki shop. How could this stupid blonde kid reduce her to the background of his life? How could she ever just reduce herself to a background character and be okay with it? Life is too short to be in the background, to live on the sidelines of someone else's life. Why didn't she just confess and see where it took them? Being reserved and cautious was never something Deidara understood, though he could admit that having such traits would have been useful to him in some cases.

At the end of her explanation, Deidara decided to lean down and kiss her. It surprised her, and she looked absolutely adorable all flustered the way she was. "I guess you have a thing for blonde kids, hm?" he said flirtatiously, earning another blush from her. He pecked her cheek and tugged her back out onto the sidewalk, asking if she wanted to eat somewhere else. "Oh! N-No, here is fine! If … if Naruto is what you're worried about… he probably wouldn't notice my presence anyway…"

Hinata sighed a bit and glanced inside at the spiky blonde, remembering how at the beginning of this summer she wanted to ask him on a date. When was the last time she even thought about her crush on Naruto, let alone felt sad about him? She felt ridiculous being so affected by this boy of her immediate past, but she supposed old habits die hard.

She felt Deidara squeeze her hand. "Failing to notice your grand presence should be a crime, hm," Deidara said in a princely manner. Hinata felt herself blush furiously and let him lead her to a table. Deidara smiled at his successful flirtatious endeavor and sat across from Hinata, enjoying that he could unabashedly stare at her as they ate.

He noticed that she kept glancing over at Naruto, whom he never really bothered to remember as more than "the blonde kid over there." Deidara absently stirred his ramen and commented, "Why don't you like, tell him how you feel, hm?" Hinata instantly became flustered at the thought, muttering stuff like "But what about you," and "It's too sudden." He ignored all of that and silenced her by touching her hand and squeezing it gently, gaining her attention. "Hey, hm. It's cool. Just go see what happens, okay?"

Hinata shook her head. "I don't want to because… I'm not sure if I feel anything for him anymore." Deidara studied her face and smiled a little. They left the restaurant after eating and slowly made their way back to the shop.

Coming from the opposite direction was Sasori, who had gone out to get lunch on his own. They spotted each other and stopped in their tracks. Deidara and Hinata let go of each other's hands for a moment, trying in vain to hide the thing that was going on between them. Sasori saw this and began walking into the store ahead of them, muttering a small "Tch," before the door closed behind him. Deidara felt guilt well up inside of him, but he didn't want Hinata to know. So he wrapped an arm around her shoulders instead and walked into the store, leaving a confused Tobi and Zetsu outside.

"Did… Did something happen?" Tobi asked Zetsu nervously. Zetsu shrugged.

Kakuzu absently watched Sasori and later Hinata and Deidara enter the store. They seemed to bring a whole lot of tension with them as they came in, and Kakuzu was almost about to care, if it weren't for the papers he was sorting through at the moment. Sasori later stomped out of his room again, after Hinata and Deidara disappeared behind Deidara's door.

Sasori sat with a huff on the chair near Kakuzu, who only sighed and said, "Should I even ask –" Suddenly, Sasori started ranting on and on about how annoyed he was about Hinata and Deidara spending more time together, and how it was stupid of them to even try and hide the fact that they were out and about during lunch, and how inconsiderate it was for Deidara to even try and make a move on Hinata when it was so explicitly clear that –

"Woah, woah, Sasori. Cool it. I'm sorry if I gave off the impression that I give a shit," Kakuzu said, holding up a hand to stop Sasori's overflow of words. Sasori took a deep breath. He knew that Kakuzu meant well by his comment. He was just being honest, which is all anyone could ask of him. He just had little to no other options in terms of venting, since it was his supposed best friend that was the problem in the first place.

It wasn't like Sasori was completely alone without Deidara. It's just that Sasori's only other option was Pein, and he was _not_ about to let Pein have the satisfaction. Sasori would rather just wait and sort himself out more than anything.

* * *

At the end of the day, Deidara walked Hinata back home. Their held hands swung absently between them, and they chatted about small things until a silence fell upon them. Then, Deidara said, "Do you really not feel anything about that one blonde kid in the restaurant, hm?" The question was sudden, but Hinata learned by now that a lot of things Deidara did was sudden. She thought about her answer for a moment. "I… It's not that I don't feel anything… It's just that…" She blushed at what she was about to say. She stopped walking and Deidara looked at her.

"It's just that… I really like the thought of being with _you_ right now," Hinata said slowly, blushing intensely as she looked up at him. Deidara found himself blushing a bit as well, but he didn't want Hinata to see him that way so he pulled her into a tight hug. Hinata could hear his heartbeat and smiled, slowly wrapping her arms around him as well. "I, uh, really like being with you too, Hinata," he said awkwardly, hugging her tightly and then kissing her.

The two of them walked back to Hinata's house, and he gave her another kiss goodnight before almost skipping all the way back to the shop. The last time he felt this fluttery was when he first flew on one of his clay birds. He almost couldn't sleep that night, he was too excited to see Hinata tomorrow.

* * *

TWA

You guys don't have to feel bad about yelling ships at me… I… I somehow enjoy it…


	16. Monster

Omfg I just realized that I used to hold chapters hostage for more reviews on a couple of my old fanfictions… isn't that so messed up, like sometimes people just like enjoying a fic without having to say they like it… I do that a lot too but being an author I know how good it feels to get reviews…

I mean I know that I have a lot of readers – as evidenced by my traffic graph thing. I just don't get a lot of reviews, and I'm okay with that. It used to be an ego thing with me but now I'm like… chill.

Yeah. Random tidbit. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Sasori couldn't believe it. He was sitting across from Pein in his office, doing the exact thing he was hoping he wouldn't have to do – ask him for advice. Sasori could almost see the winning smirk on Pein's face, even though it was hidden behind his hands as he leaned forward on his elbows. Pein's piercing gaze (there was a pun in that phrase somewhere) rivaled Sasori's indifferent one, and the two sat in an almost painful silence.

"Maybe I should just go –" Sasori started to get up, but there was a sudden focus of gravity that pinned him down, and there was a very intense look on Pein's face for a second. It would have scared anyone if it weren't for the fact that Sasori trusted Pein with his life. He was the one who made it happen, after all. Pein was probably the only person alive now that knew about Sasori's past.

There was admittedly a very strange connection between the two of them because of this history they shared. In his earliest days, Sasori was put in an old puppet of his called "Hiruko," which was meant to be more of a toy car more than anything. But Pein gave it new purpose when he found a way to attach Sasori's consciousness into it.

"_My name is Pein. You are Sasori of the Red Sand, and right now you are inside a large puppet thing called 'Hiruko.' Please make a puppet of yourself that's more functional so that we can begin working together."_

The first few moments he spent being "alive" were confusing and terrifying. Whenever he looked inside himself, he was hollow and empty. He was confused and scared and only knew how to make puppets, so that's what he did. First, he made a puppet that looked like himself, so that he could move around easier. Then he worked on other things – new puppets, furthering his education little by little, and ever since he's been working on recalling his past before becoming a puppet. It's been a lifelong effort for him, but he was content with the memories he's gained as well. He never felt it necessary to ask Pein for his past because he felt that he could get it himself if he tried hard enough.

Sasori recalled his earlier memories somewhat fondly, even though now wasn't really a good time. The memory lessened the animosity he felt towards his current situation. He was really grateful to Pein for allowing him to continue his life, and he supposed it only made sense for him to ask Pein for advice now that his life seemed to come to a halt once again.

Once Pein saw that Sasori had relaxed a little, the distance between them suddenly shortened, and they were now sitting across from each other as if at a coffee shop, however it was still dark everywhere but where they were. They seemed to be out of sight from everyone – completely alone and private so that Sasori could fully confide in Pein whatever it was that was ailing him. Knowing Pein, though, he probably already figured it out and was just waiting for Sasori to initiate the conversation.

After a moment of contemplation, Sasori said, "I… About Hinata and Deidara…" At the mention of their names, Pein smiled a little, but said nothing to let Sasori form his thoughts. They were silent for a while until Pein said, "Sasori, we both know why you're here, but I don't think you've admit it to yourself yet." Sasori bit his lip and contemplated this. He knew – everybody knew. It was written all over everything except for his face, and Hinata seemed to only be able to read faces. It was the elephant in the room, in every room, the biggest elephant that somehow grew bigger the moment Deidara and Hinata decided to get together.

"I have no right to feel this way, Leader," Sasori said with an exasperated sigh. Pein asked him why, and he continued with, "I'm too old for her, for one thing. I wouldn't be able to relate to her, her human-ness. I don't know how to empathize anymore. I'm not cuddly or soft or anything that a human is in general. I'm just… a puppet. I breathing, heart-beating, functional puppet." Sasori stared down at his open palms. "I'm just… a monster," he said softly. "She'd never really fall in love with me."

Sasori went on about how she already had Deidara anyway, and how they were both young and beautiful and mortal. How Deidara would be able to communicate well with her and they'd live together in their own squishy human home and how Deidara would be able to provide for her so much better in general. The more he talked about it, the more it hurt. It was as if a knife was being pushed further and further into the only thing that could feel pain in this god-forsaken body – his heart.

Pein studied Sasori's very expressive behavior. Did he really believe that he couldn't use body language? If only Sasori could see himself now. Right now, Pein saw a sad and heartbroken person. Someone who was having a completely human experience and had no idea. Sasori ran a hand through his hair and leaned back into his chair. They were silent for a very long time.

Finally, Pein said, "Well, first of all, I hardly consider you 'old,' Sasori." Pein adjusted himself in his seat and continued. "You're a man of many ages – your humanoid puppet self is about 19 years, your heart and consciousness are 17 years old, you _would_ be a 35 year old man if you kept living a normal life – but Sasori, the life you've been living here has been far from normal, wouldn't you agree?" Sasori looked at him, curious about what he was getting at.

"And people cuddle with dolls all the time – you've sold your puppets to countless little children who all fell asleep cradling your creations – why are you any different?" Pein leaned back and crossed his legs casually. Sasori hadn't thought of it that way. "You're human enough to have feelings, Sasori. You have every right to feel things, and you _have_ been feeling things. But the only way to really understand them is to accept and acknowledge that they're there." By now, Sasori was leaning forward, hanging onto every word that he said.

"And you shouldn't compare yourself to Deidara. There's no way for you to ever become him, and this entire establishment would crumble – literally – if two Deidaras existed under its roof." Pein smiled a bit at Sasori's attentive stare. He's grown a lot since he first revived him. Sasori was damn well a robot when they first officially shook hands as man and puppet. But now, Sasori's humanity was coming back – even more so in the presence of Hinata Hyuga. His hope for Sasori was for him to find his humanity again, to get to know himself by getting to know another person. He knew that they would help each other out of the rut they seemed to be in.

"You're not a monster, either, Sasori. I don't bother myself with monsters, and I will not tolerate a 'Beauty and the Beast' thing because accepting yourself doesn't magically give you the body you want." Pein stood up and made his point. "You are a puppet, Sasori, but you are also in love. Whatever excuses you're giving yourself have just been proven wrong, and you should spend your energy doing more productive things," Pein leaned forward, the coffee table somehow disappearing as their faces were just mere inches apart. "Once you decide, then you can take action," he said sternly.

Sasori took a moment to process what he said, and Pein let him have that moment before leaning back and pulling a nearby lever, ejecting Sasori from his chair and down back into the shop. Sasori couldn't care less about where he landed in the store, because he had decided then and there. It was so simple, so clear now. There was no holding back, because Pein unlocked the door for him. Sasori knew now that it was up to him, not fate. No one was going to spoon-feed him the answers to questions that only he could answer.

What was the question?

_Do I love Hinata Hyuga?_

Sasori emerged from the back storage closet that he landed in, the answer slowly becoming clear as the light of the shop illuminated his face. The answer came to him as if it were there all along, as if it were just waiting for his call. He looked forward and smiled a little.

_Yes, yes I do._

* * *

It was the weekend, so Deidara went to spend the day with Hinata at her house. He had to sneak in through the window, but it was fine since no one really visited her room on the weekends. They were cuddling and watching some dumb movie, commenting on silly things and just hanging out in general. Hinata was laying on her stomach while Deidara plopped on top of her, and the two of them stayed like that for a while.

However, the summer heat began to get to them, so they rolled off of each other and Deidara sighed. "Hinata – how do you get your hair like that, hm?" Hinata only now noticed that she had fashioned her hair in a messy bun, just to keep her hair off of her back. She usually kept it down, but today was especially sweltering, and she found it difficult to keep cool with her long hair acting as a blanket. She watched as Deidara attempted to put his hair up in a bun like hers, but it ended up being a tangled mess, with Deidara cursing under his breath as he got his thumb stuck in a particularly stubborn knot.

Gently, Hinata took Deidara's hands and put them down. "Let me try," she said, kissing him on the cheek and walking over to her dresser, where she grabbed a brush and a hair-tie. Then, she had Deidara sit down on the floor while she sat behind him on her bed, then started brushing his hair. "I never really had anyone teach me this stuff, hm," he said self-consciously, as Hinata gently unwound a tangle in his hair. "It's okay. When my sister and I were younger we used to do each other's hair, so I've gotten quite good at it," Hinata said, finally getting all the tangles out of Deidara's hair.

Then, she moved to sit across from him and handed him the hair-tie. Confused, he said, "I thought… you were going to –" He stopped when he saw her smile, and she said, "You can't learn if I'm the one tying your hair up all the time, right? So I'm just letting you do it from the get-go." She gathered up all her hair and told Deidara to do the same. It took a bit longer for him to get all his hair in his hands because he kept underestimating the amount of hair he actually had. The reason it was so long was because he didn't have the time, balancing his art with everything else in his life. The most he's done with his hair was comb through it once after every shower and let it do whatever it wanted. It never occurred to him that actual _care_ was involved when it came to hair. He thought briefly to just cut it off, but he thought he looked better with it long.

He watched carefully as Hinata expertly gathered all her hair in a neat bun, and he tried his best to do the same. A lot of hair was falling out of the hair-tie, making Hinata giggle and place herself behind him, carefully running her hands through his yellow tresses and summoning them all expertly into a clean bun. She clipped some of Deidara's excess hair to the side, and they smiled at each other. "You'll pick it up eventually," Hinata said encouragingly. Deidara carefully touched his hair and smiled. "It feels nice when you do it, though, hm," he commented, taking her hand in his.

They kissed each other a few times and settled on holding hands instead of cuddling, since it was too hot to share warmth.

* * *

It had been a week now since Hinata and Deidara started seeing each other. Everyone had gotten used to them, even Sasori. He didn't talk to them much, though. Just a passing "Hello," or something before minding his own business. He still smiled at them, but they knew it was his professional smile, the poker face that he wore all the time. Tensions seemed to be high, but it wasn't visibly bothering Sasori at all.

Hinata was greatly affected by the sudden change in Sasori's behavior. It made her really sad to think that she had ruined her friendship with Sasori, and it constantly plagued her mind. That awkward moment between them in her room seemed to be such a long time ago, but perhaps Sasori held grudges, and maybe he was holding it against her. It ate away at her, and confirmed all the beliefs she had about herself that were instilled by her father.

Deidara saw how badly Sasori's behavior was affecting Hinata. Once again, her bright smile was taken away from her, and the one causing it was his best friend – if you could still call them that. All he's ever wanted was for Hinata to keep smiling, to never be sad as long as he could help it. But he supposed this was one of those times where he couldn't help it. The guilt that Deidara held in his heart prevented him from helping Hinata. He didn't even feel worthy to talk to Sasori, let alone confront him about his behavior.

But it wasn't as if Sasori wanted to be this way. Yes, he loved Hinata, and yes he wanted to be with her, but he couldn't find a way to convey this to her. It pained him greatly to see Hinata being sad, but he held himself back, assuming that Deidara would be the one comforting her from now on. Everything sucked, and every time he saw one of them – Deidara or Hinata or both – he could feel his heart clench, the tension in his entire body rising and accumulating into his perfect mask of professional indifference.

Pein said that he needed to decide what he wanted, but somehow it didn't seem up to him anymore.

* * *

TWA

Deidara and Hinata doing each other's hair is life.


	17. Human

Hinata sat in the kitchen table, lost in thought and absently stirring the soup that was in front of her. All she could focus on was Sasori. He wasn't doing anything particularly vindictive towards her, but he treated her like she was a customer, like they hadn't been working together all summer. As if they weren't friends. She didn't understand what caused the change – the almost kiss they shared or the thing that was happening between her and Deidara. She couldn't undo either of them, so she felt incredibly stuck.

Why did she even almost-kiss Sasori anyway? It seemed like a spur of the moment thing, but she recalled the hours they spent together in front of her laptop, somewhat cuddling and getting to know each other. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to see him, spend more time with him. She found herself craving his presence, but right now she couldn't even look him in the eyes.

_This never would have happened… if I didn't come back to the Akatsuki…_ she thought bitterly to herself. If she had just let her lack of paycheck scare her off, then Sasori and Deidara would still be friends. She was a poison to their relationship, and she was probably a poison to everyone else's lives as well. What was even her purpose at Akatsuki? She didn't do anything except destroy things.

Hinata felt a tear run down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. _Father was right. I AM useless…_

There was a soft knock at the entrance to the kitchen, and she quickly rubbed her face dry of any evidence of crying. She looked up and saw Deidara, giving her a somewhat worried look as he walked up to her. "Thanks for leaving the window open, hm," he said, explaining how he got into the house. He knelt down in front of her and examined her face, wiping the tears that formed at her eyes again. _I can't even hide my tears correctly,_ she thought to herself, biting her lip to keep from sobbing.

"Hey – don't cry, hm, it's okay…" Deidara said softly, bringing her hand in his. It was a small comfort, but not enough to dispel the ache in her chest. Neither of them said anything, but Deidara knew what was causing all this hurt – it was hurting him, too. He leaned up to gently kiss her cheeks and gently pulled her out of the chair and away from the kitchen. She let him lead her back to her room, and the two lay down on her bed while she cried.

She hated feeling so fragile. So weak. Crying reinforced everything her father said about her, and everything she had come to believe about herself. Crying was useless. It achieved nothing and all the tears she could shed wouldn't be able to mend the broken bond between her and Sasori. She couldn't help but feel ashamed about not being able to do anything about what was weighing her down.

Hinata looked up at Deidara, who put a hand on her cheek. She looked down as more tears fell. She couldn't bear to look at him. She felt so mixed up about everything. Even his touch couldn't comfort her now. She felt all alone, even though he was right there. All that was in her mind now was Sasori, how she messed up everything.

Eventually, Hinata cried herself to sleep, leaving Deidara to hold her close. He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, and couldn't really figure out a way to help her feel better.

It hurt him to know that hee couldn't be the one to bring her smile back this time.

* * *

Across the street from the Akatsuki shop, there is a small café that serves these cute little French macaroons in a million different flavors. The shop was usually busy most days, but today it was particularly empty. This was probably because it was the last quarter of the summer, and people were either out and about on vacation or life in town was simply too busy. The café always made the area around it smell like coffee and sweets.

Why do we find ourselves at this coffee shop?

Well, you see, our dear little Family Akatsuki are visiting this shop today. Pein always goes crazy for those little French macaroons, and the moment he found out that they weren't busy today, he grabbed his beloved wife and daughter and dragged them across the street to have some. Konan rolled her eyes as Pein jokingly told the cashier to "give him all the macaroons they had," and the three of them were finally sitting at a table. Claire was busy drawing on the piece of paper that the café usually gives children, leaving Konan and Pein to chat.

"I don't get why you ship DeiHina so much, Konan. Deidara's such a child – Hinata's only babysitting," Pein said, sipping his coffee quickly before shoving a macaroon in his face. Konan took one of his macaroons, ignoring his mumbled protest, and smiled. "I think it's cute. I thought they really clicked when they almost set the store on fire," she said, taking another macaroon. Pein ordered a small mountain of them, she had no idea why he was so attached to the two she took.

"Sasori and Hinata really clicked when they first met – you know, when she _first entered the store?_" Pein said as if he had the upper hand. Konan pointed out that if he wanted to play the "First in the shop" game, then Tobi would technically be the first person she met, and therefore a perfectly valid contender. Pein realized this and playfully pouted at her. Claire giggled at the funny face her father was making, and Konan smiled.

They sat in comfortable silence, which was occasionally interrupted by their child by talking about her latest masterpiece. Konan looked at Pein and said, "He's like a son to you, isn't he?" Pein gave her a confused look. He had never thought about it that way before. He briefly reflected on how he had stumbled upon Sasori, and how he personally helped him get back into the swing of being "human."

Pein smiled. "I guess he does have a sort of soft spot in me," he said. He took a moment to ruffle Claire's hair. "But I can definitely call everyone at the Akatsuki a son of mine, too." Konan stared at Pein for a moment and smiled at the faraway look he had. This was what he loved about him – he wanted nothing but the best for the people he brought into his life, and he was determined to give them the best he could offer.

She felt Pein's hand slip into hers. "What's with that look?" he smirked playfully, and she smiled a bit more. "I love you," she said softly. Pein lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, smiling.

After a while, the Family Akatsuki made their way back to the shop. Pein and Konan hung out in Claire's room as she ran around and played. They were absently playing with each other's hands when Konan said, "Y'know, seeing Hinata and Deidara together is really nice, but knowing Deidara…" Pein gave her a confused look that told her to continue. "… I mean, Deidara was never the … 'boyfriend' type," Konan looked at Pein who said, "You don't have to start saying that stuff to make me feel better about the bet we made."

Konan laughed a little. "No, I mean… I mean that Deidara never struck me as someone who… who could keep up with the _commitment_ that comes with a relationship. Does that make sense?" Pein thought a moment and then smiled. "In the end, it's up to Hinata – they're good for each other, the three of them," he said softly.

"But I guess… we'll just have to see."

* * *

Deidara watched her sleep for a while because it was the first time in a couple days where she looked at peace. It was late in the afternoon when he decided to leave, since he heard Neji approaching and he was also severely late for work. But work wasn't on his mind right now.

He began walking back to the shop, but stopped when he saw a familiar tuft of red hair sitting in the park across the street from him. It was Sasori, sitting on a bench in the park. Deidara was unsure of how to approach this, but he supposed that outside and away from the shop was a good place to have this conversation, as opposed to in the shop where people could be listening.

Slowly, he made his way to Sasori. He didn't want to make it too obvious that he was there, but stealth was never one of his strong points. Sasori knew immediately that he was approaching, but welcomed it anyway. He knew that it was time to talk, and he had been avoiding them for a while. It was only fair that he let him talk, since he caught him in the park anyway.

Deidara stood in front of Sasori for a few minutes, trying to announce his presence with his body posture. Sasori gave him an indifferent stare and then gestured for him to sit down next to him. It was awkward for only a few moments, but only because of the heavy atmosphere that accumulated between them. It had been a while since they really talked, since Deidara was busy spending all his time with Hinata and Sasori was out and about, doing the exact opposite.

After a few agonizing moments, Sasori finally said, "I'm sorry for being so… distant." The words surprised Deidara. He supposed he was looking for a sort of apology, but remorse didn't matter as much as an explanation did. Sasori could sense as much, but had trouble finding a good place to start. Needless to say, the stuff Sasori needed to tell Deidara wasn't the most ideal of things to say to someone, especially –

"…So what do you like most about her, hm?" Deidara said, leaning back on the bench casually. Sasori felt a blushing sensation on his face, but it never appeared on his cheeks. He never even said what he wanted to say – how did Deidara know? Even so, Sasori thought about it for a while, accumulating all the data he's collected this far, considered every detail, and finally said,

"She brings out the human in me."

Deidara smiled at this. He was glad that Sasori seemed more at peace with himself, but there was a more important matter at hand. "She's really torn up about you, y'know," Deidara said, leaning forward to get up. Sasori's eyes widened with surprise and worry. "She's inconsolable, hm. Even I can't…" Deidara's fists clenched in his pockets, hiding his agitation. By now the two of them were standing next to each other.

"You need to go to her, hm. She needs to see you," Deidara said finally. Sasori hesitated. "She doesn't…" he started, but Deidara turned to him. "I can see it in her, hm, she misses you like crazy and she's battling herself trying to stop, hm," he said, the pain obvious in his voice. "It isn't me this time, Sasori."

Sasori still couldn't move. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her – he wanted to do more than just see her – but how could Deidara be so sure that she wanted to see him? All he's done so far was cause her pain and suffering, and his presence would only intensify that, wouldn't it? What could he possibly do to make her feel better?

The two of them stood there for a minute, the tension dissipating slowly. Deidara let out a deep breath that he didn't know he was holding. "You were so wrapped up in figuring out that she meant something to you, hm," he said. "Help her figure out… that you mean something to her, too."

Sasori felt his heart flutter for a moment, but he suppressed it. "Deidara…" he started, but stopped to think. What did any of this even mean? Why was Deidara so willing to let him comfort her? Did they break up or something? For some reason, he never got the sense that they were something that could be broken up. No, maybe Deidara and Hinata weren't the boyfriend and girlfriend that everyone thought they were. Perhaps theirs was the kind of relationship that had a sort of unspoken devotion, the sort of commitment that didn't need any sort of announcement or title.

They simply existed with each other – the kind of relationship that would only suit them.

Now that he realized it, Sasori kind of understood what Deidara was saying.

"Deidara… what do _you_ like most about her?" Sasori asked softly.

"Her smile, hm," Deidara answered. That moment, Sasori realized that love truly came in different forms. Love from friends, family, love for your spouse and child –

Love that was permanent and fleeting.

* * *

TWA

Okay, so is it macaroons or macarons? Because I know that it's a common mistake to mix up one for the other, but I guess I just don't know. OH well.

And yeah, there's some PeinKonan for you! I know that Nagato was a thing for a while, but I kind of quit before I could really get to know Nagato, let alone ship him with anyone. So. Yeah.

ONE MORE THING

Thank you to those who do take the time to review – reviewing does of course keep me in check. Keeps me consistent to the best of my own ability… yeah. Thanks a lot! I sense a sort of end coming near, but maybe after a few more chapters.

See you next time!


	18. Explosion

Sorry for the late chapter! Honestly I've been playing Persona 3 for the past week so… Yeah, I have no good excuse. Too busy hanging out with my artificial friends in a video game!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

We find ourselves a few days back, one of the days where Deidara and Hinata were spending time just cuddling on her bed and doing nothing. It was sunny outside, barely a cloud in the sky. Through the window, the sunlight warmed their legs and the breeze blew their hair out of their faces. Hinata stared at Deidara, and he stared back with his usual smile on his face. He was absently playing with her hair, his arm lazily draped over her waist.

"What are we doing, Deidara?" she asked softly, her eyes scanning every movement his face made. She did this, but she knew he wouldn't be one to hesitate on speaking his mind. He teasingly informed her that they were currently wrapped up in each other's arms on her bed on a sunny afternoon, but she laughed and said, "No, I mean – what are _we._" The question made Deidara's smile fade, but only a little. She noticed this and immediately every fear and doubt she had within herself resurfaced. Was she not good enough, was she not as fun to be around as he thought? Was every affection he ever gave an act?

Deidara saw the distress in her eyes and his once lazy arm wrapped around her tightly, and she was pressed against him. He gave her soft kisses, his lips attempting to claim every inch of her face. She giggled delightfully and he grinned. She posed her question again, her previous anxieties kissed away. He kept his face close to hers and said, "We are people, hm. We're young and beautiful and clumsy and we are never going to be exactly in this moment ever again, hm."

After some thought, he said, "You and I, hm, we simply just _are._"

Hinata looked at the fire in Deidara's eyes and recognized it from whenever he talked about his art. The passion that he was displaying right now came from his core, and she knew that he was giving her all of him. The entirety of Deidara's being hinged on the impermanence of life, the simple fleeting existence of everything that was precious in this world. He said that she was the greatest thing that has ever happened to him, and now she knew that it was because he found her as vibrant and beautiful as a work of art. And just like his art, he knew that she would only happen to him once.

Inside of herself, Hinata didn't feel like a work of art. She barely felt worthy of being so happy where she was right now. Something was always holding her back. Ever since she was very little, something always told her that she couldn't do it, or that she was weak and unable to do anything. It dictated her every being and now, having grown up this way, she doubted herself constantly. Her inferiority was so addicting that she became guilty for being happy, and dealing with her was not something she wished upon anybody, especially someone like Deidara, or Sasori, or anyone in the Akatsuki.

"Deidara…" she started, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "I'm not what you think I am." Deidara only held her close, and she let out a shaky sigh to allow her words to come out. "The only thing I have in common with your art is that I will explode one day, and everything you've kissed and loved about me will be buried under the rubble of all my stupid flaws –" her voice cracked and sobbed. " – and then you'll see that I'm just a poison to everything good you have. The smile you've worked so hard to keep on my face will never come back, and you'll realize that I was never worth it."

Hearing this broke his heart, and he hated seeing her so anguished. His love and affections had only ever done so much to battle the lifelong voice in the back of her mind, the one that was telling her that she wasn't good enough. Whether it was her own voice or her father's, he knew that one day the voices would be louder than his own. One day, he wouldn't be enough, and he wouldn't be able to bring that smile back from beneath the rubble of her broken heart. When that day comes, it would be time to pass the torch to someone else. And he would be nothing but thankful that he was mighty enough to keep her demons at bay, if only for a little while.

"Nothing lasts forever, hm," he said softly, "Yeah, you'll crumble, but you won't be buried – you'll be good as new, hm, you'll be better and you will always be worth it."

They laid there for some time, holding their broken hearts together for as long as they could. But both of them knew that nothing was permanent, and nothing would be the same.

* * *

_This is it,_ Deidara thought to himself, watching Sasori run out of the park and towards Hinata's house. _This is your explosion._

* * *

On the outside, Hinata was sitting on her bed, aimlessly browsing the internet. But on the inside, a storm was raging. She was recalling that day where she and Deidara spoke about their relationship, and how they didn't want to pin each other down with a label like most people did. She felt safer with that kind of relationship, but was it really because she knew that Deidara wasn't able to commit to her, or anything? There was a reality that she hadn't considered because his affection distracted her from what was really wrong with her.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she was only okay with the open relationship because she didn't feel like she was worthy of being committed to. Perhaps it was emotionally safer for her to be casual because she would always be worried about causing the other person trouble, or always doubting the sincerity of the other person. Deidara knew she had major insecurities, but if he knew them all, wouldn't he be disgusted? She didn't love herself, why would anyone else?

Why would Sasori?

Just then, she heard a soft tapping at her window. She looked up and Sasori was there, already making his way into the room. She was surprised for a moment before being utterly horrified at his presence – not because of him being there, but because she was just thinking about isolating herself, about removing herself from the Akatsuki forever because of how ashamed she was of herself. But she didn't do anything to prevent Sasori from entering her room, because somehow she had calmed down. Somehow seeing his face for the first time quieted her mind.

Sasori experienced the same quiet and peace in his mind as well. Seeing her again after everything that was happening to him was refreshing, and he was more than ready to talk about it. Even so, neither of them knew what to say. Where would they begin, anyway? Sasori nervously scratched the back of his head. He had waited so long for this moment, but that didn't mean he actually had anything prepared for it. Hinata looked like she was in the same boat.

"Hinata," he started, looking down to the ground. What did he want to say to her all this time? She stared at him intently, but he stared back without much effort. Eventually he won the staring contest and she looked downward, something close to a blush on her face. Sasori decided to sit across from her on her bed and continued to stare at her. Then, after quite a bit of time, he said, "I've missed you."

Hinata looked up at him, surprised. She felt tears well up in her eyes again and he immediately leaned over and held her face, wiping the tears that fell. "B-Before we get to the tear-jerking stuff, I'd like to, um, explain myself," he said nervously, his heart pounding from being close to her for the first time in ages. She seemed to be reacting the same way, but he didn't want to pull away from her. He stared intently at her and she had no choice but to look back.

Sasori took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts. He knew he had a metric shit-ton of stuff to tell her but he was very unsure of where to start, or if what he had to say was really relevant at all. Did she really need to know that he spent the past couple weeks being a total dipshit and researching about love? Did he really need to go over his inferiority complex when it came to being a human?

Sasori began to panic, somewhat from embarrassment and also from the tension between them that he was making up in his mind. He was getting embarrassed because of the long journey it took for him to realize this thing that was obvious to everyone – literally _everyone _– and that this exact moment was the one he was waiting for, but he was vastly unprepared. The loudest thought in his mind was beginning to drown out all explanation, all rationality, and finally after an awkward silence he stammered,

"I L-L-LO – Y-Y-Y-Y-YO –!"

* * *

Pein slapped his hand to his forehead, cursing loudly. "God_dammit_ Sasori –" Behind him, Konan was giggling to herself. Pein ran a frustrated hand through his hair, feeling a wave of secondhand embarrassment. He saw it, he saw Sasori's crippling descent into self-doubt and he could only watch as Sasori let it botch up this crucial moment.

Konan patted Pein on the shoulder. "Oh, go easy on him, it's his first time. It's cute how flustered he is, look –" she said between giggles, pointing up to the screen to their puppet friend. Her words didn't make Pein feel much better about it, but she was right. It was his first time and he supposed he should have mercy on Sasori's socially ignorant soul. The two of them continued to watch the scene unfold from their comfortable chairs in the security camera room.

* * *

Hinata stared at him, then slowly turned red as the information processed. Sasori took her surprised stare as hate and disgust and other unpleasant things. So he began to move away from her, but she stopped him by grabbing his arm. He froze in place, then awkwardly turned his head to her. Then, she began to talk.

"Sasori, I'm… I'm so happy to hear that, but –" she seemed to be stumbling on her words too. It would have been cute if Sasori weren't so distracted by the pity party he was throwing himself in his own head. "I… I thought that you hated me for being with Deidara, and I didn't find the courage to talk to you about it, and I'm… I'm sorry…"

The two were silent for a bit until Sasori moved so that he was holding Hinata's arm instead. He gently tugged at her so that she stood up, and they were standing in front of each other. "I never thought that you were avoiding me… It's not like you needed my permission to do things…" he trailed off, mostly because his fingers got tangled in her hair when he was absently playing with her hand. She noticed, and she smiled a bit as he tried to untangle himself.

After about a minute, Sasori gave up on his hand, trapped in her flowing tresses. Then, after the large wave of embarrassment, Sasori began to laugh softly to himself. But his laugh grew a bit louder and he hid his face behind his free hand. "I'm… I'm so sorry, this entire situation went so much better in my head," he said, leaning his trapped hand on her shoulder. He stared into her eyes and she could only stare back, her face barely able to hold back the giggle she had. He smiled.

He said that he was going to tell her all about how he was searching for the definition of love, and how he felt betrayed by Deidara, but mostly jealous that he was able to express his feelings so freely and so effortlessly. "I was so distant because I was… working on myself. I was figuring myself out and I realized that being part puppet doesn't mean I'm not part human, too," Sasori explained, his trapped fingers gently running through the parts of her hair that he could. He didn't mind that he was getting more tangled, because he was already so entangled with her.

His hand rested in the crook of her neck, tilting her face up to his. This time it was him that was leaning towards her, and wasn't going to back away from him. His closeness alone was filling a void in her that she didn't know was empty, and she almost felt bad that Deidara couldn't possibly substitute the things that Sasori was doing right now. She felt his wooden fingertips interlace with hers, and again she found herself mesmerized by his touch. He could feel it too – it was a touch that he had missed greatly. It was as if they were picking up where they left off.

"There are many ways for me to express this to you, Hinata," he said softly, his lips hovering over hers. "So let me try again." Hinata's hand traveled up to rest on his chest, and she felt the beating cylinder that was his heart, his human heart. It was beating as fast as hers, and she was blushing red enough for the both of them.

His lips were softer than she anticipated, though she could still tell that he was made of wood. His entire face and body seemed to be a flawless mix of human and wood, the perfect ambiguity between the eternity of the trees and the fragility of a person. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer to him, and Hinata had to push him away slightly so that she could breathe for air. He apologized profusely and said that even though he still needed to breathe once in a while, he could hold his breath much longer than the average person. She smiled and pulled him down for another kiss before he could talk too much.

Her lips drove him crazy. He could feel his heart beat faster and faster, excitement bubbling inside of him for the first time in ages. This was it, he thought, this was what love felt like. Love was soft, love was fragile, love was feeling like flying without any wings. Love was about to beat his heart out of his chest.

Love was Hinata, wanting to kiss him over and over despite his severe lack of experience and probable flavor of oak tree. Love was the tint on her cheeks whenever he pulled away.

Love was his hand, still tangled in her hair but not as severely as he was tangled in her presence.

When they finally pulled away from each other they held each other close. Sasori could barely believe that this was happening, and he imagined that Hinata was feeling the same way.

They stayed together like that for a little while.

* * *

TWA

Wow! A thing happened! Sorry in advance if the writing's a bit choppy, it's been a hectic week for me. Personal stuff's going on. It'll be okay. And sorry if Deidara's and Hinata's "relationship" is a bit hard to understand. I tried my best to explain it, it makes sense to me!

I'll try to get the next one out soon!

To Update Zombie: bruh. Bruh I love those things so much. I wrote the thing about the macarons because I was craving them so hard. Bruh.


	19. Not Just Anyone

Sasori and Hinata spent a lot of the night catching up with each other, sitting on her bed and telling each other about the things they've done while they were apart. There wasn't actually a lot to catch up on, though. The night consisted mostly of the two of them observing each other, getting reacquainted with feeling each other again. As they talked, Sasori's fingertips traced her arms or her legs and Hinata's hands constantly cupped his face or ruffled his hair. It was very intimate, and she wanted to take it slow, so as to not scare Sasori out of human sensation.

There came a time in the evening where their stories came to a stop, where silence was between them and they were caught holding each other again. Sasori stared at her, which was something he had always done, but this time it was different. Hinata saw a new light in his eye that wasn't there before. For the first time ever, she was able to read desire in his gaze, see that he wanted to be here with her, and she smiled.

Sasori saw her smile and reached his hand up to cup her face. "I, uh, I want to kiss you, if that's… okay…" he said awkwardly, making Hinata laugh a little. He felt a blush of embarrassment in him and he briefly looked downward, but Hinata leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. He had nowhere else to put his arms but around her waist, and the two kissed again, but only briefly before Sasori asked, "Is this weird for you? I mean, don't I taste a bit weird compared to –"

Hinata hushed him and said, "Don't compare yourself to anybody. You're you. This isn't weird for me." She smiled reassuringly at him and he relaxed a bit. "I'm sorry," he said, "I just can't believe I'm here right now – with you, like this…" He absently stroked her hair and smiled a bit. "I keep expecting this to go wrong, y'know? Like maybe you'll realize that I'm really just a crusty old puppet and you're a squishy human and you'll think we don't go together."

After a pause, Sasori said, "I love you, though, if that's enough." Hinata smiled and was about to speak, to reply to him, to say she loved him back, but she stopped. Sasori noticed this of course, and he suppressed an inner panic, because he didn't want to force her into saying something like that if she didn't mean it, and he was always afraid that she wouldn't love him, but he'd have no choice but to be okay with her not loving him, and –

They both stayed silent, lost in their own thoughts. It wasn't that Hinata didn't love Sasori. It really wasn't. She was holding herself back because she didn't want to subject him to her horrible moods, to her constant insecurity. She didn't want him to see her crumble as she had a million times, over little things. She was ashamed of herself and could only focus on the good sensations that kisses brought her, without the constant nagging thought that he hated it, or that he was lying or faking everything.

She knew it was irrational, and that made her ashamed even more for feeling these things. She knew that Sasori wouldn't lie to her, but these were things that constantly plagued her mind, and she was protecting herself and Sasori by not pursuing the relationship that he was probably expecting. It was safer, she thought to herself. For both of them. She had too much baggage and no one would ever want to carry it.

"I'm… I'm sorry –" she started, but he hushed her gently and said, "No, no. I'm sorry. It's… I guess it's too soon or something. I was just excited." The two looked downward, at their interlaced fingers, and their grip on each other tightened briefly. "I… I don't want you to feel obligated, Hinata," he said softly to her. She had a pained expression on her face, and he didn't know why. "I mean, I have a lot of stuff within me that I need to sort out and I shouldn't expect you to just… carry all that, y'know?" Sasori continued.

Hinata realized that she and Sasori were having similar struggles. Both of them had major insecurities that held them back from being truly open with each other. The only difference between them was that Sasori saw them as things he needed to work on, and she saw them as things that she couldn't change. She thought this was her, this was really all she ever amounted to. But who else thought that other than her father? Surely there was a time in her childhood, her innocence, where inferiority and uselessness were foreign concepts.

She opened her mouth to speak, and Sasori perked up to eagerly listen. However, before a single word could escape her lips, Hinata's bed jerked upward, and then tilted to the side, dropping the two of them into the dark abyss below.

"_**It's time,"**_ a familiar deep voice bellowed from all around them.

* * *

Now that he was alone in the park, Deidara saw that there was nothing for him to do but head back to the shop. He took only one step forward before Zetsu suddenly appeared in front of him, briefly apologizing and then swallowing Deidara whole.

It was odd. In all his years at Akatsuki, he had never travelled by Zetsu before. It was darker and more moist than he was comfortable with, but he supposed that's just how plants were on the inside. But what was he inside of, exactly? Was it the flytrap things that enveloped around Zetsu's head on normal days? If so, was he currently sitting on Zetsu's head? Deidara pondered and pondered until finally he was dropped down onto a comfy chair in Pein's office.

Of course it was Pein, who else would go through such dramatics as sending a human-sized Venus Flytrap named Zetsu over to your exact location and have said plant swallow you whole and deliver you personally to his desk? Pein. Pein is literally the only person to have such capabilities in the first place, and it was always Pein that took you to his office at precisely the right time. Whether or not it was the right time for you or for him is yours to decide.

Deidara said nothing, which was surprising because Pein anticipated at least some animosity towards him for the sudden human express delivery. But Pein could see that Deidara's mind was still preoccupied with thoughts of the Akatsuki's Hyuga. Pein smiled a little. "How is Hinata?"

Deidara gave Pein a weird look before saying, "I hope she's okay now. She has Sasori." Pein smiled a little wider, which was a bit unsettling, but Deidara knew better than to distrust the leader. "But she has you, too, doesn't she?" At this, Deidara nodded fervently, but then realized that there wasn't really a point in looking so eager. "Of course she has me, Leader, but…" He looked downward, and Pein took this time to walk across the room to him and ruffle his hair. Deidara looked up at him, and smiled a little.

"I'm just sad that I couldn't get her to see what I see, hm," Deidara said after a moment. Pein pulled a chair under him and sat across from the artist. "What do you see, Deidara?" he asked. Deidara had a goofy grin spread across his cheeks. "If she saw the way her smile lights her entire face up, hm, I guarantee you she wouldn't find any reason to be sad." Pein could almost see the sparkles in his eyes. "She gets it, hm, y'know? She knows that nothing is permanent, but she forgets, hm. I can only remind her so many times before she stops believing in me – believing in herself."

They certainly had a unique sort of relationship. It was almost as if Deidara was her crutch, her support. Pein knew from the very beginning that Hinata had as much potential as one of Deidara's clumps of clay. She was malleable, moldable, impressionable. She was struggling so hard to take form and it was up to the entire Akatsuki to mold her into what her younger self dreamed to be. There was a dream in Hinata – he and everyone in the Akatsuki saw it the first time she interacted with them.

She was slowly overcoming many obstacles until now. But this is her biggest hurdle yet.

Love.

Not just loving someone else – she was very good at that, everyone knew – but loving herself. Loving herself was her largest challenge, and it has been an uphill battle for the longest time.

All summer, she had found a place for herself at Akatsuki. She engraved her presence in the Akatsuki's hearts, and they had a special place in hers. But she didn't leave a place for herself in her own heart. The place that would have fostered self-love is currently a black hole of self-loathing and despair, that could only be temporarily filled with Deidara's impermanent affections. Deidara knew this, and tried his best, but couldn't succeed.

Pein and Deidara shared a long and pensive silence. Then suddenly, Pein stood up and walked towards a lever, which was illuminated by a spotlight in the corner of their eyes.

"Well, Deidara, I think it's about time we give her a… more _permanent_ reminder. Doesn't that sound swell?" With an almost devious grin, Pein cranked the lever, and immediately they heard the annoyed yells of Sasori and Hinata, bounding through the intertubes of the Akatsuki base.

* * *

"Leader, what the hell!?" Sasori yelled as he and Hinata landed rather ungracefully onto a couch that was specially prepared for their arrival. As if he were reset, Pein sat at his desk, illuminated by one light shining from above. Sasori noticed that Deidara was seated not too far from them. They exchanged confused glances before Pein said, "The time has come for all of your questions to be answered."

Hinata, having adjusted herself from the fall, sat up and paid close attention. Answered questions? From Pein? This was a first, and it was a most welcome distraction from her current thoughts. Pein enjoyed her attentiveness, since it was the sort of respect that was rare among his colleagues nowadays. He cleared his throat dramatically, and left a long silence between the group. The three non-leaders of Akatsuki sat in anticipation.

"You all know what time of the year it is, don't you?" Pein said. Sasori thought a moment, then let realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He looked at Deidara with a somewhat anxious look, and he returned the expression with his own reflected anxiety. Pein saw the click between them, but Hinata was still oblivious as to what was being silently communicated in the room.

"The end of the season is among us. It is almost time for the Akatsuki to… move on," Pein explained, watching the realization dawn upon Hinata as well.

Akatsuki's Traveling Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium.

Akatsuki's _**Traveling**_Wonder-Art Odd Shop Emporium.

Hinata clasped her hand over her mouth in surprise. The Akatsuki were leaving Konoha. Everyone she had met was leaving her for who-knows how long. The people who had given her the greatest summer of her life were disappearing from it. She felt a large wave of anxiety bubble up inside of her, and she felt tears burning at her eyes. Immediately, Deidara stood up and sat next to Hinata, so that she was sitting between him and Sasori.

Pein closed his eyes momentarily, contemplating how he was going to share the news he had. He took a breath and then fell silent.

"Hinata Hyuga, I'm not sure how many stories you've heard in regards to where each member has come from, but surely you've noticed something similar about all of them," he explained, pausing to study the looks of his listeners. "The Akatsuki Shop came into their lives precisely when they needed us, and we have been working on and with them ever since."

Pein paced around the room, choosing his words carefully. "The Akatsuki Shop opens its doors only to those who need it. But those doors are only open for so long before it has to move on."

"We have watched you grow and mature, but we all know that you're not quite there yet. But whether or not you stay with us is not our decision to make." Pein looked at the three of them. "You have many important decisions to make before the summer ends, Hinata Hyuga."

Deidara or Sasori?

Continue your way of life or change?

Go with the Akatsuki or stay?

Abandon your emotionally abusive father and run away with the only place you've truly felt at home?

The questions were few, but large and heavy burdens to carry. She felt herself crumbling under all the pressure. How could she possibly make this decision on her own? Tears slowly rolled down her face. Both Deidara and Sasori could only watch as she battled all her demons to try and come to a logical conclusion to all of this.

"Leader, don't you think… don't you think you're asking too much of her right now?" Sasori asked gently, his hand slipping into Hinata's free one. Pein shook his head. "This decision demands that you know yourself and your own needs. What she decides will determine whether or not we've truly served our purpose." The atmosphere was thick, as intense as the decision Hinata was supposed to make. Her hands shook in anticipation. Sweat built up in her palms and on her forehead.

She panicked at the thought of uprooting her life in Konoha for the Akatsuki. Leaving her father was a plus for sure, but leaving Neji? Hanabi? All of her friends? What would they think of her? And what of Deidara and Sasori? What difference would it make if she was still deciding whether or not to leave? It would just be safer to let the Akatsuki leave her behind. She'd cause less trouble if she just stayed at home. It was probably a blessing for everyone if she stayed away for good.

But how could she go back to a normal life after having a taste of the Akatsuki?

Could she live with herself if she let them slip through her fingers?

Hinata felt light-headed. Dizzy, even. The poorly lit room and the faces around her blurred together, and she could feel herself slowly slip away from consciousness. The room turned black, and Hinata was numb.

* * *

TWA

Oh goodness. The end is near, can you feel it?

See you next chapter!


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